Unfairly Judged
by Quitting Time
Summary: In this story, Jade asks Tori out. While Tori accepts, she assumes its prank where Jade won't show and decides not to be home at the time Jade is supposed be there. But what if Jade actually does shows up... A Jori Story.
1. An error in judgement

**Disclaimer: The show Victorious, its characters and other associated copyrights are property of someone else and not me.**

 **Unfairly Judged**

 **Chapter 1 – An error in judgment.**

 **No one's pov**

If you asked Tori how to describe her relationship with Jade, up to recently she would use the word, turbulent. From the very first day when coffee got poured on her head to the stage fighting incident to their playdate, sparks flew between them. But in all the chaos, there was a rhythm. Every day, Tori would be nice and supportive to Jade and Jade in turn would treat Tori like crud, frequently doing mean things to her. But Tori persisted, trying to look at the times where Jade would smile or even seem to tolerate her company.

But of course it wasn't always easy for Tori and some days she found it harder to want to be nice to Jade, despite her feelings.

However recently Tori had noticed a slight changed in the wind. The Goth, seemed to lay off the pranks and started to accept her friendship. It was a nice change for Tori and lead to thoughts of other things possibly happening, but Tori quickly put those out of mind. Of course, Tori wasn't without suspicions either.

It was late on a Friday and Tori was walking to 6th period class, when as she passed the broom closet, a pale hand reached out and yanked her inside.

Only one student inhabited this broom closet and the instant she was yanked inside, Tori knew full well who it was.

A microsecond after she made a mental note to stop walking right next to the broom closet door, Tori instinctively cringed in fear.

"Relax Vega, I'm not going to do anything to you." Snapped Jade, before Tori could even open her eyes.

Cautiously, Tori opened her eyes to see Jade, arms crossed in front of her. She also noted the Goth looked slightly agitated.

"Oh. Um….what do you want?"

Jade shifted her feet for a moment and appeared to collect her thoughts.

Then in a slightly nervous tone, Jade answered. "Vega…..um…..I know you like me. I know you like girls. But don't get me wrong, I like that….I mean….I like you too and not just in a like way….in a I like girls way….Would you like to go out with me tomorrow night?"

For a single moment, Tori's face remained frozen with a look of disbelief. Finally her jaw slowly opened.

"A date? You mean a hand holding, kiss at the end of the night date if I like you date?"

Jade instantly scowled. "Of course that's what I mean. I made reservations at that new fancy vegan place. So? I think….we could….be good together."

Tori shifted her eyes side to side for a moment as her mind tried to make meaning out of this rather unexpected development.

After another moment's hesitation, Tori nodded slowly with a cautious smile. "I'd like that."

Jade smiled, not smirked as she normally did, but actually smiled. "Good. I'll pick you up at 7:00 and dress nice. Ok. I got to get to class. See you."

With that, just as soon as it started, Jade took off and Tori was left alone in the broom closet. For a few moments more, before leaving, Tori just kept looking into the empty space that Jade inhabited only a few seconds ago and pondered….

The next night, at 7:00 pm sharp, Trina Vega was just sitting down with a bowl of popcorn to watch the latest celebrity reality show, Real housewives of Los Angles, underwater edition, when the doorbell rang.

Irritated by the interruption, Trina put down her popcorn and opened the door. Seeing it was Jade, dressed in a nice green dress, the elder Vega laughed.

"What's so funny skeletor?" Sneered Jade.

Still laughing, Trina continued. "You actually here….you really showed up for Tori's date."

"Yes, that's what people generally do with dates. Even someone so dim as you, can understand that, but then again, no one wants to date you as you're both ugly and no one likes you."

Trina narrowed her eyes as her laughed quickly died away. "Well, the Jokes on you….cause Tori's not here."

"What!"

"What are you deaf now? Tori's not here."

Jade quickly fumed. "I know that, why?"

"Well, here's the funny part, you see, while you were serious about this date, Tori assumed you were mocking the fact that she liked you by asking her out. She totally expected you to stand her up so she left almost an hour ago, to go to the mall and finally to Mario's pizza to get something to eat." Trina then chuckled, once again. "This is priceless, she left you standing there, looking like a fool."

Watching with glee, Trina could see the Goth turn bright red, almost like some cartoon character about to blow its top.

"She stood me up!" Ranted Jade.

"Now, who was it that no one wanted to date, them being all ugly and how no one likes them….oh yeah, it's you…" Trina said, a second before slamming the door in Jade's face.

Trina then went to the window and watched as the new furious Goth, get in her car and speed off.

Still finding it funny, Trina then called Tori.

After two short rings, Trina then heard the perky voice of her younger sister.

"Hey Trin."

"You at the pizza place?"

"Yeah, just started eating, Why?"

"So Tori…..you know that date Jade made with you."

Tori shook her head. "Don't remind me Trina."

"Well guess, who just showed up, all dressed real nice too."

Tori who fully assumed Jade was jerking her chain and setting her up to be stood up, dropped the pizza slice she was eating on her plate, in utter shock.

"What!"

"Yes, dear sister. You were wrong. Jade was not playing a prank on you. She was really here, she was really dressed up and ready to take you out and you just stood her up!"

"No….." Replied Tori, who was simultaneously cursing herself for not giving Jade the benefit of the doubt and starting to freak out.

"That's right. You just stood Jade up."

"Oh my god, what did she do? Is she still there?"

"No…she left and she looked just a bit upset. Well….downright furious, but think of it this way, she'll probably just kill you. Bye."

At the time Jade had asked her out, Tori very much wanted it to be real. After all she had a huge crush on Jade, pretty much the first day of school. But in the closet after Jade left and up to just a few moments ago, Tori simply couldn't shake the feeling that this was nothing more than one of Jade's pranks. That she'd get dressed up and just end up waiting and waiting for a date that would never come. While she liked Jade, Tori found herself constantly questioning Jade's motives and this was no exception.

But now, Tori to her utter horror, realized that she had misjudged Jade and as a result purposely stood her up. Looking down at her half-finished pizza, Tori realized she could no longer eat it as she was now filled with overwhelming sense of regret and dread. The worst part was that she really liked Jade and now her chance was gone.

Tori quickly got her bill and paid, not even bothering to take her pizza. She had to find Jade, had to try and make some amends.

As soon as she got her car, she called Jade, but it went straight to voicemail and perfering to apologize in person, didn't leave a message.

Now in tears, Tori drove around past Jade's house, past Hollywood Arts, past anywhere she possibly could find Jade or her car.

After about an hour of searching she found Jade's car in a parking lot behind an independent record store she frequented.

Parking her car and getting out Tori quickly heard the sound of crunching metal and breaking glass.

Looking across the lot, she spotted Jade, in a green dress, trashing a silver Mercedes with a, white lives matter, bumper sticker, with a golf club. Tori could see the windshield was already smashed.

"Aaaahhh…" Bellowed Jade, as she swung and took out the driver side mirror.

"Jade?" Said Tori, her voice quivering with fear, as she approached from behind.

Jade suddenly stopped, turned and then glared at the crying Latina.

However, as Jade faced her, Tori couldn't help but notice one other thing. "Jade's make up was half run down her face, indicating she had been crying recently.

"Well, well…look who finally took time to show up." Quipped Jade, in a rather venomous tone.

"Look Jade…."

That was all that Tori got out before, Jade cut angrily her off.

"I may have done alot of shit in the past Vega but I would never toy with someone's heart, I thought you would know that... Guess I was wrong."

Jade then took the club and shattered the driver's side window, before coldly turning back to the very upset Latina.

"The sad part was; I had the whole evening planned, I even bought tickets to a goddamned chick flick I know you wanted to see, because I wanted to give you a good time, but now? Now you really pissed me off Vega... You thought the worst of me? Then you will see the worst of me!"

Without so much as another word, Jade got in her car and sped off.

Alone, Tori was left to deal with her utter shame and heartbreak, at least until she heard someone shout.

"Hey, who trashed my car?"

Then Tori just had to run.

 **Thanks to Invader Johnny.**

 **This will be a short story, probably just a two shot. Let me know what you think.**

 **Don't forget to check out my other story, "Revenge of the wolf" I'll admit it starts off a bit grim, but that makes for good drama. I've got some fun surprises planned and I'm not calling it Revenge of the wolf, for nothing.**


	2. Opening Salvo

**Disclaimer: The show Victorious, its characters and other associated copyrights are property of someone else and not me.**

 **Unfairly judged.**

 **Chapter 2 – Opening salvo.**

 **No One's Pov**

Not wanting to be blamed for the smashed car, Tori ran to her car and quickly sped off. While that flight, momentarily, pushed Jade out of her mind, thoughts of Jade and the accompanying sorrow soon returned.

By the time she got home, she was miserable. After all, she had not only blown her chance with Jade, but made an enemy at the same time. All her hopes for something more with the Goth had turned to dust. The worst part was the only person she could blame, was herself.

Of course Trina wasted no time in mocking her misfortune and playfully called dibs on her room, once she, "Went away"

Tori was tempted to call and apologize and even picked up the phone 4 or 5 times to do so, but each time she put it back down as she felt it was pointless.

She simply didn't know what to do.

All she knew now was, she was dead.

The following Monday, Tori got out of her car, looking and feeling like a prisoner walking to the electric chair. With slumped shoulders and a look of morbid resignation, she walked towards the school.

Though she half expected Jade to jump out and pummel her the second she entered school, nothing happened. However when she reached her locker, she found Jade had already been there.

Her locker which had "Make is shine" on it, had paint thinner splashed on the locker, causing it to run, leaving the words distorted and unreadable.

Across the way, at that very moment, stood Jade, who was wearing a evil smirk. She was standing by her locker, carefully watching Tori's reaction to the now ruined locker.

But much to her dissepiment, the only thing Tori did was, to sadly shake her head with a look of resignation and open her locker.

"What, no tears, no angry scream, fine. This doesn't bother you. just hold on Vega, I've only gotten started. I'll make you regret playing with my heart!" Quietly ranted Jade, as she stormed off.

Moments later as Tori was pulling out her books, she heard Cat gasp, behind her.

"What happened to your locker? It looks like it melted."

Turning around, she saw a shocked looking Cat and Beck who looked only slightly puzzled.

"What happened? Take a guess."

Cat thought for a moment. "Um…pizza?"

"Pizza?" Said Beck with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes, that's my guess, Pizza. I always guess pizza. I love pizza…you know this one time, my brother…."

Beck carefully put his hand on Cat's shoulder, to stop her wild tangent. "Cat, let's talk about Tori and her locker, Ok?"

He then turned to Tori. "Well….I'm going to guess Jade."

Tori nodded. "And that's the right answer."

"Oh goody." Cat suddenly squealed. "What does he win?"

"Nothing Cat."

Cat then frowned. "Well that's no fun."

"Neither is having your locker splashed with paint thinner."

Stepping forward, Beck looked at the locker again and then to Tori. "Tell me, is there a specific reason that Jade ruined your locker or is this just one of her random acts of terror "

"Is it that time of the month already" Said Cat, as she scratched her head.

Looking rather sheepish Tori replied. "Well she asked me out on a date and, despite the fact that I like her, thought she was just playing a prank on me, so I wasn't home when she showed up for our date. I went out for pizza, instead."

Of course Cat's first question was. "I like pizza, why didn't you invite me?"

Ignoring Cat, Beck cringed. "So you stood her up!"

"Yes"

Cat's frown morphed in a scowl as she quickly put her hands on her hips. "First you don't take Jade out for pizza and then you don't take me. You're mean!"

And with that, Cat turned on her heel and walked off, not before walking up to Andre as he was approaching, saying. "Don't talk to Tori. She doesn't share her pizza."

After giving Cat a somewhat dubious look, Andre looked at the locker than to Tori.

"One of Jade's random acts of cruelty or did you chiz her off?"

"Uh….she asked me out, though I accepted, I fully thought she was playing a prank. So I went out for pizza when she was supposed to pick me up."

"And she showed, didn't she."

"Yep. Sorry about Cat, she's just on one of her tangents. At least she'll get over it."

"Tori" Beck said, as he ran his hand through his hair. "I wish you would have talked to me first. I would have told you, that she'd never pull a prank like that and she was certainly serious about it."

"Yeah Tori…." Started Andre, before getting cut off by Tori.

"Look guys, you're my best friends, but I brought this down on myself and for your own safety, I don't want anyone else involved. "

The guys quickly exchanged looks of worry.

"I you want, I can talk to her." Offered Beck.

"I can do the same Chica." Andre said with a hopeful smile.

Tori shook her head. "No, please don't. I'm asking as a friend. Don't say a word about this to Jade or get involved in any fashion. No matter what she does. I'd feel a thousand times worse if you said something to her and she took any of this out on you. Please guys, promise me."

"Jade can be pretty nasty when she's pissed." Noted Beck, with a great deal of concern.

"No guys, please. Promise me."

Again Beck and Andre exchanged worried glances, but both begrudgingly nodded.

"Ok." Said Andre.

"If you need to talk, I'm there." Added Beck.

"Thanks guys" Tori said looking relieved. "I think, I'll be skipping eating lunch with you guys for a while. We can still do stuff at other times, best to not tempt fate. Just remember all is normal and please don't say anything."

Not looking overly happy about it, the guys headed off to class, leaving Tori alone. As horrible as she felt, and she felt very horrible, she honestly would feel a thousand times worse if Jade took her anger out on them as a result of them talking to Jade on her behalf. That and she simply didn't want to dwell on something she felt she had no control over.

Closing he now ruined locker after gathering her books, Tori took a moment to once again look at Jade's handiwork. All it served to do was, to further convince her that any attempt at apology or reconciliation was pointless. Dating Jade was something she had secretly dreamed of for some time, now those dreams were just as ruined as her locker.

For a moment she thought of having it repainted, but sighed.

"She'll just ruin it again, just leave it. There's nothing I can do about it."

Tori went about her day, making a point to avoid Jade as much as possible. In the two classes she had with Jade in the morning, she arrived late and made and effort to sit as far from her as possible and of course avoiding her gaze. In the two times she looked over to Jade and their eyes met, she was the recipient of a cold and hateful glare.

Though Cat was still aloof from the pizza thing, she did encounter Robbie and made him promise to keep out of it as well.

At lunch, she got her food and then moved to the other side of the school, where she ate alone, while sitting on the steps.

While she made her best effort to appear normal, Tori felt this almost overwhelming feeling of loss and sadness. There was some anger too, a great deal of it, but that she turned on herself, as she felt like she deserved it. Overall however, she very much felt like a close friend had died and what made it worse, she felt like she'd be next. All she could hope for, is that Jade would get board of it and move on to terrorize someone else. As much as Tori was an optimist, within her was a very real fatalistic streak.

The next morning, she arrived at school, feeling no better or any less doomed than they day before. Arriving at her now ruined locker she looked with some apprehension to see if Jade was lurking nearby ready to spring something else, but the Goth was not.

The day past, with at least one bright spot, that Cat had seemingly forgotten about the pizza thing and acted as if they were best friends again. But it was little comfort to the Latina and as before she made Cat promise to stay out of it, no matter what. The red haired girl was very sad about the turn of events, but reluctantly agreed.

During the day, despite her best efforts, she encountered Jade. While the Goth said nothing, she simply gave off waves of hostility and hateful stares to go with them. Again Tori made no effort to talk to Jade, seeing there simply was no point.

But one thing Jade didn't do was any sort of prank or trick and by the end of the day, the nervous Latina though she could breathe a sigh of relief.

That's until she made her way to her car at the end of the day. Tori had her car only 4 months by this point, and her 2003 sliver Honda Civic, was her baby. She had saved up a lot of babysitting and part time job money to have this car and was happy to not have to ask Trina for rides.

But as she reached the car and was about to unlock the door, she noticed movement inside. Startled, Tori backed away to see what looked like a small cat pacing back and forth between the two front seats.

But the smell she became aware of a few seconds later told her it was no cat. It was a skunk.

Across the parking lot, one again Jade eagerly, awaited Tori's reaction to her latest effort. But again she found herself disappointed when with a similar look of sad resignation, just looked at her car and walking off.

"Damn it" Cursed Jade, as she walked off.

Tori took the bus home and there told her father that some unknown person had stuck a skunk in her car. He then arranged for animal control to have the creature taken away only an hour later, but her car now had a very rancid smell. Trina knew who did it, but like everyone else, Tori had made her promise not to say anything.

As far as the smell, her father knew of a guy who did detailing work and had special chemicals which could get the smell out of her car. Unfortunately it was rather pricy.

The next morning, Cat was walking across the parking lot and she saw Tori talking to a slimy looking guy in a leather jacket near the one corner of the parking lot.

Curious and concerned she walked up and as she approached, heard the man say.

"28th, Row Taylor Swift Ticket's, I'll give you $200."

"No" Tori said, looking like she was going to throw up. "I need $250 no less"

"$225"

"$250, no less."

"Fine" Said the man who quickly then pulled out his billfold and handed Tori a small wad of money. Tori then handed over what appeared to be two concert tickets.

That done, the man grinned, "Nice doing business with you." Then he walked off.

"Tori, What's going on? You were so excited to get those tickets, why did you sell them to that man?"

"Cause I needed the money!" Said Tori, letting a hint of bitterness creep into her voice, as she watched the man get into a luxury SUV and drive off. "I need $250 to get the smell of skunk out of my car. That's how much it will cost me. So I contacted a scalper and sold the tickets."

Tori shrugged, "The car guy is cleaning my car today and I need the money today.. But…" Tori said letting her voice trail off.

"I'm sorry."

"You want to know the funny thing. I had even thought of asking Jade if she wanted to go. Yeah, I now Swift isn't her thing, but I thought…damn. But there's nothing I can do about it. So I just need to stop complaining about it." Tori said with a sigh

While Tori seemed to be taking it, Cat quickly growled in displeasure. "I'm going to talk too…."

"No you will not. Not a word, you promised me." Said Tori quickly, cutting her off.

"Ok." Replied Cat. "But maybe….."

"If I apologize. It's pointless Cat, utterly pointless. She hates me and that's that. Come on, let's get to class."

Tori could only wonder, with some apprehension, what Jade would do, as the Goth seemed determined to make her miserable. She found out 3 hours later when she finished with gym class, to find her clothes had been stolen out of her gym locker. She told the teacher she had no idea who did it.

For the rest of the day, Tori had to wear and ugly pair of brown corduroy slacks and a faded, New kids on the block t-shirt from the lost and found. But the humiliated Latina, simply shrugged and with an all too familiar look of sad resignation, went about her day.

As the day ended, Jade watched Tori, ignoring the snickers of some of the other Hollywood Arts' students as she walked towards Trina's car.

But Tori just walked on, her shoulders hung low a sad expression on her face.

Three days in a row, Jade had done things to Tori and three days, Tori had simply taken it, not cried or gotten overly upset about it.. Jade who felt increasingly frustrated, simply clenched her fists and went about planning her next move.

 **Well Jade's angry and has begun to retaliate, but Tori has just taken the abuse and done little else. Much to Jade's frustration. What does Jade really want anyway.**

 **I had intended for this to be a 2 shot, but people really seem to like this one, so it will be a bit longer.**

 **Is Tori wrong to assume an apology is pointless?**


	3. How Far

**Disclaimer: The show Victorious, its characters and other associated copyrights are property of someone else and not me.**

 **Unfairly Judged**

 **Chapter 3 – How far….**

 **No One's POV**

On a cloudy Thursday morning, Tori arrived at Hollywood Arts, not in her own car, but Trina's. Just the fact that she had to once again beg her sister for a ride, was bad enough. But until her car was fully cleaned, which wouldn't be till Monday, she had no other choice.

All the way there she had been nervous about what Jade would do next. Of course, Trina was too busy talking about an upcoming audition and how'd she was sure she'd get the part and be a big star to really notice.

Once out of the car, she gave a weak smile to Trina and then headed across the parking lot.

"Hey sis. Watch yourself." Called out Trina unexpectedly as she walked off.

Three days had past and each day, Jade had done something to her. First ruined her locker, second ruined her car and third stole her clothes and today she could only wonder what was next. Of course while she dreaded, what would happen, she tried to accept and deal with it as there was little if anything she could do about it. She had made an enemy of Jade and that was that. The best she could hope for is that the Goth would tire of making her life miserable and move on. There was also her own nature of not wanting to hurt people, but all the abuse was taking its toll on her. In the last few days, she'd become increasingly moody and withdrawn.

As she reached the door, she saw Beck walk up and smile. "Hey how are you doing?"

"I'm fine." Tori said with a shrug.

"Look Tori, I'm sorry about what you've been going through, I could talk…."

"No." Answered Tori quickly with a look of worry. "Please, stay out of it. "

For a moment, Beck stood and clenched his jaw, before relenting. "Fine, but answer me one question."

"What?"

"Do you like Jade?"

Tori lowered her head. "I did, but I messed up and I can't see it really mattering anymore."

Beck, despite his own history with Jade, wanted to help, but Tori seemed adamant. "Just hold on and if you need someone to talk to. Just give me a shout. I'll see you later."

Tori watched Beck walk off and entered the school where her ruined locker awaited her. As she opened it, she could see Jade, standing by her locker, glaring at her out of the corner of her eye.

All Tori could do was sigh, grab her books and walk off.

Tori expected Jade to do something and Jade did. Tori had been sitting in sikowitz's class on the far end from where Jade. Each day she came into the class, sat down and put her bag next to her chair on the right.

Today was no different; she arrived in class to find Jade already there and sat down. Only today when the class ended she went to pick up her bag and it would not move.

"What's wrong Tori." Said Cat who noticed her bag would not lift off the floor.

"I don't know."

She knew that Jade couldn't have touched the bag as she had been on the other side of the room the entire time. Quickly she knelt down and looked closer. It was then she discovered something very sticky on the floor right were her bag was. In fact there was a circle of it, on the floor right were she normally put her bag.

Tori pulled her bag and it simply would not budge. A moment later, Tori realized it was superglue. Jade had poured a small film of it on the floor, right in the spot she place her bag. Not realizing it was there, Tori put her bag in the glue and after sitting there for 50 minutes during class, it was firmly attached to the floor.

Hoping it could come loose, Tori then pulled on it as hard as she could, only to be greeted by a tearing sound as the bag ripped in half. Half stuck to the floor, half in her hand and the contents spilled all over the floor. The bag itself, was large and blue and one of Tori's favorites.

"Problem with your bag Tori?" Quipped Jade as she paused in the doorway on her way out. Like before, she hoped to get some reaction.

Instead, closed her eyes for a moment, shook her head and slowly began quietly picking things up off the floor.

"I'll help you Tori." Said Robbie, who had been sitting nearby. "If you like, I have an old backpack in my locker. I keep meaning to take it home, but you're perfectly willing to use it."

"Thank you Robbie. I'd like that." Said the Latina, appreciate of the fact that at least her friends were there for her.

"I'll go get it and be back in a minute."

Robbie then scooped up Rex and as they headed out the door, Rex turned to a rather disappointed looking Jade and said.

"If that's what's it like being on your bad side, I can only imagine how horrible it is to be on your good side."

Jade started to growl Robbie quickly fled.

Angered by the fact that again Tori had simply taken it, Jade stomped her foot and stormed off.

After returning with the backpack, Tori said thanks, placed her things in it and headed towards the next class.

The rest of the day Tori quietly and sadly lamented her stupid decision to simply assume Jade was playing a prank.

The next day was Friday and Tori was even more quiet, moody and apprehensive. The morning itself, past without incident, other than a number of cold stares from Jade. Tori did her best to ignore them.

Finally lunch arrived and Tori went to her locker, pulled out her laptop and lunch, then headed to the steps at the back of the school. Eating lunch alone did have some perks as it allowed her to work on some of the songs she was writing in peace. Today she was going to work on the lyrics for a song, she had been working on.

After eating part of her lunch, Tori pulled out her laptop and turned it on. However almost immediately after it got to the main window's screen, something odd happened.

A large cartoon scissors appeared and started to cut across the screen. Like lightening the scissors raced across the screen cutting the windows backdrop and her icons into pieces, which fell to the bottom of the screen and vanished.

"No….No….No….." Tori cried, as once the scissors was done, she was left with nothing other than a blank screen.

Hoping it was nothing more than some animation; Tori shut down her computer and restarted.

This time she got the following message.

 _Operating system not found._

Desperate for some other result, Tori restarted again only to get the same result. Tori, realized that Jade must have gotten into her locker and planted a virus on her laptop while she was in class earlier and now her computer was totally wiped.

Tori had taken a lot and did her best to shrug it off. After all she blamed herself but this time, Jade had wiped her computer with a number of new songs which she hadn't had the chance to back up yet. Jade had interfered in the one thing that Tori loved most, her music and that made the Latina's blood come to a quick boil.

With an angry scream, Tori shoved her laptop in her bag, abandoned her lunch and marched in the direction of the Asphalt Café.

Over the past few days, word of Jade's war of terror on Tori had gotten around the school. As the visibly angry Latina stormed across the busy Asphalt Café, she was quickly noticed. Soon many pairs of eyes were on her as she made a beeline for Jade.

"About friggen time." Muttered Jade.

A moment later she came up to the table where Cat, Andre, Beck, Robbie and Jade were sitting. While the others seeing Tori angry, quickly became concerned.

Jade who finally felt some measure of success seeing Tori, visibly angry, got up, crossed her arms and smirked.

"Nice of you to join us. Is something the matter? Is the poor Tori all upset that her laptops melted down?"

On her way there, Tori had come up with this whole speech about respecting others and how some things were simply too cruel. But seeing the smirking and evil face of Jade Tori forgot her speech and did something else.

Unable to control her anger, she punched Jade in the jaw.

Not expecting the kind, perky Latina to actually resort to violence, Jade was understandably caught completely off guard; so off guard that the blow, sent her flying backwards across the table which her friends sat and onto the ground.

For a moment, the dazed Jade lay on the ground amidst a moment of shocked silence.

Tori looked at her fist, realizing with horror what she had just done.

Beck and the others, looked down at Jade, covered in food, in a state of shock.

A split second later, the silence was broken by the sound of loud cheering and laughing, coming from nearly everyone else in the asphalt café.

Still dazed, Jade picked herself up off the ground, her jaw feeling like Tori' hit it with a sledgehammer. The fact that she was covered in food, at first didn't catch her attention. What did was that fact that everyone was cheering Tori and laughing at her. It didn't take long for all of what just happened to sink in.

Tori watched helplessly as Jade stood there paralyzed, looking devastated.

However before anything else could happen, Lane who was nearby and saw what happened and looked none too pleased, quickly put his hand on Tori's shoulder. "MY OFFICE, NOW!"

As he led Tori away, Lane then turned to the one other teacher, nearby, Mr. Burke the English teacher. "Mr. Burke, take Jade to the nurse."

As Mr. Burke walked up to Jade, he said. "Jade, are you ok?"

But the Goth stood here, neither saying nor doing anything.

It was only when Mr. Burke touched Jade on the arm, did she react.

"Don't touch me!" She screeched and then fled the asphalt café back into the school, students still celebrating her humiliation. Mr. Burk, hurried after Jade leaving Beck and the others who were still had their Jaw's hanging open.

Nobody said a word.

Nobody but Rex, who quipped, "I think we're going to need a new Jade!"

 **So Jade, pushed just a bit too hard and Tori in a moment of anger, punched Jade in the face. It seems the gulf between them is larger than before. Can either one of them bridge it?**


	4. Beck steps in

**Disclaimer: The show Victorious, its characters and associated copyrights are property of someone else and not me.**

 **Unfairly Judged.**

 **Chapter 4 – Beck steps in.**

 **Author's note: I thought it would be more interesting to have this chapter in Beck's pov. A view from someone outside the situation.**

 **Beck's Pov**

When I first learned that Tori stood Jade up, I knew there would be trouble. Jade of course, liked Tori and seriously asked her out. Tori of course didn't think it was a serious offer and blew it off.

The thing about Jade is that speaking from experience, I can tell you Jade is a very passionate creature. She's passionate about many things, her acting, the scissoring, coffee and other things. But of course when wronged, that passion of hers can….well you've already seen that.

Of course it was Jade's revenge that drove Tori to what she did. Which was to punch Jade right in the face. She must have been working out cause, Jade flew back across the table and onto the ground. You know the rest, Lane hauled Tori to the office and after being laughed at, Jade fled.

Well, after a few seconds of shocked silence we looked down to realize that when Jade rolled across our table she rolled right across our lunches.

Our lunches ruined, we all broke up. Andre headed inside to practice something for music class, Robbie and Cat went, God knows where and I decided to walk down the street to the sub shop and eat there.

The odd thing is that after all we'd just witnessed, none of us spoke about it. Other than Rex's new jade crack. I think we were all in shock and probably just didn't know what to say.

However as I sat in the sub shop, eating my meatball sub, I started to feel guilty about it. Why should I feel guilty? Well, I know Jade better than anyone; after all we dated for 2 years. As I said I knew there would be trouble. But when Tori told me to stay out of it, I did. Perhaps I could have done something to lessen the tension or at least stopped that punch.

That punch more than hurt Jade's jaw or embarrassed her, I could see the look in her eyes. I think she was really hurt, almost devastated. I could say it was because everyone laughed at her and that's part of it, but I think it's mostly because Tori hit her.

But Tori, realizing what'd she'd just done, looked equally devastated.

Not to mention, she'd struck Jade in full view of 2 teachers. She could get kicked out and for the moment that was foremost on my mind.

It was a mess and I simply didn't know what to do. Even if I wanted to help, what do they want? I know Jade better than anyone, but ultimately only Jade knows what Jade want's.

I returned from lunch and went back to school. It was during 6th hour that I learned from Samantha Hartley, who was waiting to see the guidance counselor and was in the office at the same time at Tori, that she heard Tori getting yelled at in Principal Helen's office. With Both Helen and Lane doing the yelling. Shortly after Tori's dad arrived, there was more yelling and soon after a very shaken Tori, left with her father. Samantha said she overheard Lane telling Tori that she was suspended.

So at the very least, I knew that Tori was not kicked out of school, which was a load off my mind. But not much of one.

I had a lot of homework to do, so I didn't see or talk to anyone over the weekend. I did make an effort. I called Jade to see how she was doing, but she didn't answer. I expected that.

I called Tori, but she didn't answer any of the times I called. I didn't leave a message.

So when I wasn't doing homework, I wrestled with what if anything I should do.

Monday Morning, I came in the school, and as expected I didn't see Tori. I did see Jade at her locker, now sporting an ugly purplish bruise on her face. I walked towards her to see how she was doing and she simply slammed the locker shut, gave me her stay away glare and walked off. It's important to be able properly interpret Jade's various glares.

As Jade walked off, I couldn't help but notice a group of freshmen girls snickering at her. I'm sure Jade noticed it too, but she just kept going.

For the first two classes of the day, I found myself again wrestling with whether or not I should speak to Jade. I had promised. On top of that, I still wasn't sure what to say.

Between 3rd and 4th, hours I was walking down the hallway and I spotted Jade some distance ahead of me.

As I briefly pondered what to do, I suddenly spotted Trina Vega come round a corner and upon seeing Jade instantly fumed. The Latina, undeterred, walked over, grabbed Jade's arm and pulled her into an empty music practice room.

Trina is interesting, yeah she's only quasi-talented and rather self-centered, but I've always felt there was something else to her. I think I see some of that at work now.

Quickly walking up, I realized that Trina, hadn't completely closed the door, so I listened.

"My sister got suspended cause of you and grounded for a week, no TV, no computer, no phone, no nothing." Said Trina, her voice full of contempt.

"She hit me or haven't you noticed the giant bruise on my face. " Snapped Jade.

"Only because you ruined her locker, stole her clothes, messed up her car and deleted the contents of her laptop. You know she had to sell her Taylor Swift tickets to pay for the car clean up. She really wanted to go that."

"She should have thought of that before she stood me up!" Roared Jade, sounding more upset than angry. "SHE DIDN'T EVEN APOLOGIZE!"

"You want an apology. That's it. All this cause you didn't get a fucking apology. " Trina snorted, with amusement.

Peering in, I could see Jade defiantly glare back, but otherwise she was silent.

"You want to know why you didn't get your precious apology. It's because she didn't think it would help. You hated her and that was that. That was the worst part for her that she knew she screwed up and there was no going back. Even before she hit you, I could hear her in room at night crying. Since she hit you, she's cried herself to sleep more than once. She actually did like you, but thought you were just mocking her feelings. Lord knows, why my sister or anyone else would like you anyway. There's nothing to like."

Again Jade said nothing, looking back at Trina with a guarded expression.

Not wasting a moment, Trina then poked Jade in the chest. "You leave my sister alone or that bruise on your face will be the least of your worries."

Trina then turned to leave and I quickly ducked around a corner.

Just as Trina vanished around the corner I heard Jade scream in frustration, rage and I believe pain. I couldn't sit on my horse any longer. I had to do something to start to diffuse this situation as I didn't want this to get any worse.

So I walked up and entered the practice room, making sure to close the door behind me.

Only then did Jade, whose back was to the door, turned and saw me.

"What the fuck do you want? What is this pick on Jade day!" Ranted the Goth as a tear ran down her face, . She then tried to move past me to the door.

I however grabbed her arm, earing me a death glare. I stood my ground, however. "I have something to say and you're going to listen."

I half expected me to get punched as well, but Jade with a huff relented and backed off. "Then speak and tell me what ever Vega told you to say to me."

I shook my head. "I haven't spoken to Tori since you got hit, so I'm doing this on my own."

"You're still going to take her side!"

"No Jade, I'm on both of your sides. First let me start by saying what when Tori stood you up, was totally wrong and also when she hit you, she was also very much in the wrong. She jumped to conclusions and instead of thinking things out, reacted violently. So, I do believe that she indeed owes you a sincere apology."

Jade nodded, but otherwise remained silent.

"I did just hear what Trina said. But before get to that, you need to figure out what you want. Do you want to try and fix things with Tori or do you want her out of your life forever. Cause if you want to alienate her to the point she wants nothing to do with you, you're really close."

"Get to the point!" Hissed Jade.

"If you do want her to apologize, some sort of reconciliation, even to date her, you need to consider the fact that maybe you've been too good of an actress."

Jade sneered as she wiped yet another tear. "What?"

"You spend all this time and effort into your uber bitch queen persona. That you don't give a damn about anyone else other than yourself. But I know, that there's more to you than that. You're better than that. You act this way all the time, yet you get angry and insulted when someone believes that persona. Yes, Tori messed up and misjudged you because like so many people,she started to believe the persona you put out. I'm still not excusing what she did, it was horribly rude and insensitive. She could have asked me and I would have told her you really meant it. She could have given you the benefit of the doubt and gotten ready for the date anyway. But at least she tried to get to know you. Tried to see there was someone better underneath all that. You didn't help yourself with this war on her and she didn't help herself by hitting you."

Jade lowered her head slightly, as she appeared to think. I kept going.

"On Friday you got cheered, not because you sang some great song or performed a really dramatic scene from a play, you got cheered because Tori hit you in the face. Think about that, what that really means. Don't you at least want to be respected for your talents. Trina said there was nothing to like about you. Is it because there is nothing to like about you or you haven't bothered to show anyone that there is something to like."

I think I was getting to her as Jade quietly sighed.

"You want to fix this? you still have feelings for her, then maybe show a bit of humanity. Give her a chance to make things up and maybe show you want to make things up too. Things have gotten pretty far and it won't be easy, but I think it can be done. I guess the question is do you want to do it. Only you can answer that."

Jade didn't answer; instead she turned and looked out the window.

"I have to get to class, see you later."

As I left Jade alone, I could only hope I had gotten through to her. It's entirely possible that she'll ignore what I say, turn round and beat Tori to pulp. But I tried. To be fair, I need to talk to Tori as well.

I could only hope that she listens as well.

 **I'm so glad everyone is enjoying the story and thank you for the reviews.**

 **So what do you think of Becks decision to intervene. Did he say the right things to Jade? Should he have said more. What should he say to Tori? Just some things for you to think about.**


	5. Improbable

**Disclaimer: The show Victorious, its characters and other associated copyrights are property of someone else and not me.**

 **Unfairly Judged**

 **Chapter 5 – Improbable**

 **No One's POV**

Beck had spoken to Jade and given her the best advice he could think of. The best advice possible, he really didn't know about that, but at least best he could think of. Beck knew of course he did not have all the answers, but wanted to try. He just hoped that his advice would help to resolve the situation. But like the proverbial camel, you can lead it to water but can't make it drink.

He knew he needed to now talk to Tori, but wasn't sure if he'd be able to until Thursday, when she'd return to school. At the very least, he hoped to talk Tori into not doing anything that would make it worse. Plus to tell her that all was not lost.

After the next hour he went up to Trina at her locker and tapped her on the shoulder.

The elder Latina spun around and bellowed, "What?"

Of course when she saw it was Beck, whom she adored, smiled, quickly brushed an out of place hair into its proper spot and batted her eyes.

"Oh, Hi Beck. What…what….can I do to…er I mean for you."

For a moment Beck forgot what he was about to say as he found her obvious attempt to impress, actually rather enticing.

"I was wondering if I could talk to Tori. I tried to call, but she didn't' answer. I'm guessing she can't use her phone." Beck said, quickly deciding against letting Trina know he had eavesdropped.

Trina realizing that Beck was only trying to reach Tori, she frowned. "She's mega grounded until Thursday, and that means, no phone, no internet, no email, no texts, no TV, no visitors, no nothing."

"Bummer. Well, could you please just let her know I'd like to speak with her, first thing Thursday morning. She can just find me on the main steps or by my locker. Ok."

"Sure. I'll do that."

"Thanks Trina" Said Beck, who as he walked off, found himself wishing she'd smile again.

Trina who was annoyed that Beck was only interested in Tori and not her, only made half an effort to remember to tell Tori. When she got home, she already had forgotten and didn't tell Tori.

Tuesday and Wednesday passed without incident. The only difference was being the absence of Tori and the fact that Jade largely kept to herself.

Thursday morning came and at 7:30 Tori's car, now free of the skunk smell, rolled into the parking lot. Getting out of her car, she slung her bag over her shoulder and with a great deal of apprehension started towards the school.

Punching Jade, had not only resulted in a 3 day suspension but being grounded for that same amount of time. During this time Tori was not allowed to see anyone, speak to anyone on the phone or any other form of communication, other than her family of course. She was also restricted from using her computer, her phone, the TV and even the radio.

So as a result, she had little idea what if anything had happened at school. All Trina told her, was Jade was now sporting a large bruise and seemed moody and kept to herself.

All Tori could do was sit in her room, read and continue to feel horrible for hitting Jade. A girl she really liked. Not only has she cried, but had berated herself for letting her own anger get the best of her. It was who she was, who she wanted to be and Tori was deeply ashamed of what she'd done. At the same time she was angry for the things Jade had done to her.

Now in addition to feeling, horrible, guilty, depressed, angry and ashamed, she added fear to her list. What would Jade do in retaliation, if simply standing her up made her angry, what would decking her do? Could she make things up to Jade, at this point Tori dismissed that even as a possibility.

As she walked through the parking lot, she actually expected the Goth to jump out and jab a pair of scissors in her neck.

"Tori!" Came a female voice from behind, that startled the Latina.

Spinning around she, was relieved to see it was not Jade, but Emma Biltmore, a freshman who was in her Music Theory class.

"Yes?" Tori replied, with a good deal of uncertainty in her voice.

"I saw everything last Friday, I thought it was great you hit Jade, she's so mean and…."

Quickly shaking her head, Tori stopped Emma right there. "No, please don't say that. It was wrong."

Emma who seemed jubilant at first, quickly deflated. "Ok then, see you around."

Waking on again, Tori made it about halfway to the school when three more students came up. Like with Emma, they excitedly told Tori, how they enjoyed seeing Jade get clobbered. One even asked if she was going to finish her off.

Tori was feeling bad enough, but finding herself a local hero for doing something she was deeply ashamed of, quickly rubbed the Latina the wrong way. She didn't want the adulation, she didn't' want the attention and in fact she couldn't stand it.

Tori took a deep breath and tried to remain calm. "No, I'm not going to finish her off. What I did was wrong. Please don't make me a hero. I'm not. If you don't mind, I have to get to my locker."

Tori then walked off, hoping it was just some sort of fluke.

She made it to her still ruined locker, without anyone approaching her, but got a few nod's and one thumbs up which only caused the emotional storm within her to intensify.

"Please just let this all go away." Tori silently prayed as she pulled her locker open.

Alas her prayer wasn't answered and only a few seconds later another admirer came by to congratulate her. Again Tori told them that what she did was wrong, only a bit more tersely then before.

Looking over to Jade's locker, as she slammed hers shut, she could see the Goth was nowhere in sight. A sight, despite her emotional turmoil, she found oddly disappointing.

She hadn't seen any of her other friends and wondered where they were. She didn't have any of them in her first hour class, which was English, so she hoped to see someone eventually.

She also hoped to make it to her first hour class, without anyone else mentioning her punching Jade. A junior girl gave her the thumbs up and said.

"Way to punch Jade, boy did she ever deserve it. Let me know if you're going to do it again."

Really starting to detest the attention, Tori just kept going.

English went fine and as Tori exited the classroom, she dreaded more attention. She was about halfway when Claire Morgan, a somewhat hyper freshman, ran up.

"Oh my god, Tori. It was so cool what you did. Jade is always mean to me. I love seeing it, in fact I actually managed to tape it on my phone."

Claire then excitedly pushed her phone up in Tori's face and hit play.

Being bugged about it once again and this time made to see herself do it all over, sent Tori over the edge.

Exploding in anger, Tori shoved the phone away. "STOP IT! YES I HIT JADE, BUT IT WAS THE WORST THING I'VE EVER DONE. STOP IDOLIZING ME, I HATE WHAT I DID. I'M ASHAMED AND EMBARRASED, JUST LEAVE ME ALONE!"

Shocked by Tori's outburst, Claire stepped back looking like a child who's just had their balloon popped.

Tori's outburst also attracted the attention of several other students nearby, whom all looked at her with a mixture of surprise and shock. A second later, before she could do anything else, she noticed that Jade was one of the bystanders.

Standing off by the stairs, she could see the Goth starring at her with a somewhat critical expression.

Not able to take it anymore, Tori burst into tears and ran off. She just wanted to hid, make it go away. She ran past confused students and a teacher or two until she found herself by the currently empty black box theatre. So she ran in there, sat down on the stage and cried.

Everything was a mess, thought Tori. She had no idea if she'd ever be able to face Jade, her friends or anyone at school. She had no idea what to do and after a few minutes started to consider, transferring back to Sherwood.

Before she had time to think it through further, she heard the door open then close again. Looking up she could see it was Beck.

"Hey there! Are you ok." He said softly as he cautiously walked towards the stage.

"No!" Sobbed Tori.

Beck kept walking and then sat down close, but not too close to Tori. "You didn't come looking for me this morning. Didn't Trina tell you, I wanted to talk to you right away?"

"No she didn't!"

"She was supposed to." Beck said, as he inched closer.

"What difference does it make?. Everything's ruined. Jade hates me, everyone else things I'm some hero. I'm not a hero. I need to just go back to Sherwood." Replied, the very upset Latina.

Beck then put a reassuring hand on Tori's shoulder. "Look Tori, things look bad, I know. But I'm here to tell you that all hope is not lost. First I need you to try and calm down, relax a bit."

Feeling a bit comforted, Tori looked over to Beck. "How is all hope not lost? Jade detested me before, now, she's going to kill me, plain and simple. Everyone else is cheering me on. I hate it."

"Tori, yes you messed up. You blew off Jade and as a result really hurt her feelings. Then you let anger get the best of you and humiliated her. I'm not excusing all those things she did, they were wrong and she owes you an apology. But you owe her one too."

Tori wiped a tear. "It won't matter."

Beck raised a single finger in Tori's face, to really make the point come home. "That's where you're really wrong. Look, I know Jade and she can be….difficult, for lack of a better term. But she is human and I think you see that. You sense that she's very special and I can tell you, she is. I know it's hard to see beneath that shell of hers, but you need to keep trying. It's worth it. I spoke to her a few days ago and what I said, for the most part, I'll keep private and vise versa for what I tell you. But I know that you can earn her forgiveness. "

"How do you know that? That she won't just come in here and kill me."

"Who do you think sent me in to talk to you?"

Pausing, Tori shook her head in disbelief. "No, that can't be…."

"I came down the hallway a few minutes ago and she stopped me, said you yelled at Claire for idolizing her, then burst into tears and ran off. She asked me or actually demanded that I to talk to you and pointed in the direction you went. Now if she wanted you dead, she'd be the one coming through that door and in this empty theatre she'd have no problem beating you to a pulp, with no witnesses. Instead she sent me."

Still unable to believe it, Tori lowered her head. "What else did she say?"

"Nothing, she simply said what happened and ordered me to talk to you. Then she walked off. Look, I essentially told her that if she wanted to fix this, perhaps even still had feelings for you. If that was something she wanted to do, than she should do it. Jade heard you say that you were ashamed and embarrassed about what you've done. While not an apology and you do owe her one, it showed her that you had great remorse. She responded in kind by sending me. An indication that she wants to straighten things out. You took a step and she took a step. People can surprise you sometimes. Jade is no exception."

"She does?"

"Yes, but I told her and I'll tell you, that things have gotten pretty far and it won't be easy. She's still very mad at you and her feelings are still very hurt. It could still go either way. Probably why she sent me and not spoke to you herself. She's probably not ready yet or afraid she'll do something rash. You can earn her forgiveness, but you'll have to work for it. But in that vein, make her work for your forgiveness. I'd suspect she'd expect no less. I can't guarantee you two will make it anywhere, but I can tell you it is possible."

"I never thought that possible."

"I know you didn't you can't simply judge people like that, Jade especially. You can't let your anger get the best of you, it makes people stupid. You can't mess up like that again. You could have gotten expelled for hitting Jade. Don't do that Tori. Promise me, you won't do that again."

Tori, calmed by Becks assurances took a deep breath and sighed. "I will, but what about the others."

"What about them? Sure, you're the flavor of the week. Next week some moron will get drunk and post pictures of themselves naked on the slap and it will be Tori who. So, no one's going to be in here until 3rd period. Just sit in here, relax, calm down and think of how you want to try and fix this. If you want to?"

Tori looked Beck and made a hopeful smile. "I want to."

Beck stood up. "Good, I need to get to class. Just remember, you have friends, me, Andre, Robbie, Cat. Talk to us if you need anything. See you round."

Tori watched as Beck quietly walked out of the black box theatre and once again she was alone. It seemed improbable that Jade would actually send Beck to talk to her after all that had happened. But that was just as improbable as Jade asking her out. She had expressed remorse for what she'd done and in turn Jade sent some help. For the first time since this all started she had hope and a chance. She would take that chance and do her best to make her amends and hoped Jade would respond in kind.

Sitting there the words of Beck rang through her mind. "People can surprise you sometimes."

Tori thought again for a moment and said. "Indeed they can."

 **So Tori had a rough morning and blew up at Claire, but in doing so she expressed remorse for what she'd done and Jade showing some humanity, sent Beck to talk to her.**

 **Now they have to overcome the hurt feelings, anger and hopefully get to the point were they can really take that date.**

 **Glad everyone is enjoying the story and again thanks for all the kind reviews.**


	6. Downward

**Disclaimer: The show Victorious, its characters and other associated copyrights are property of someone else and not me.**

 **Unfairly judged**

 **Chapter 6 – downward**

 **No One's POV.**

Jade had such high hopes when asked Tori out, but since then, everything had gone downhill. Before that, the Goth had spent weeks wrestling with her feelings and even more trying to get up the courage to ask the pretty Latina out. They seemed to be an improbable match, but Jade honestly thought they could make it work.

Jade was nervous and hopeful the day she asked Tori out and much relieved when she said yes. She was more than relieved she was actually rather happy, almost to the point of giddiness.

Jade had put a lot work into planning a date that would appeal to both of them and still feeling giddy, showed up at Tori's door.

Of course it was Trina who when she answered the door, told her rather mockingly that she'd been stood up.

Jade, who up to a few moments previous had been full of hope, was rather devastated. She quickly left, bursting into tears shortly after.

Feeling rejected, mocked and humiliated, her emotions quickly turned to anger and rage. She was in the middle of trashing a car when the Latina finally showed up. Jade didn't care why the Tori had come and just the sight of the person who had so humiliated her, sent her anger off the charts.

The whole next day Jade stewed in her juices and plotted her revenge. Though, in the back of her mind, she found herself wondering why Tori didn't make any effort to apologize. That only furthered her desire for revenge.

The first day was paint thinner thrown on her locker, simple but it made its mark. But as Jade watched from afar, she noticed that the Latina simply took it. She looked sad, but didn't cry or get particularly upset. Jade found that rather annoying. She expected some reaction; for Tori to do something.

The other things she did all had the same result, little reaction Jade found herself increasingly frustrated, angry and perplexed at her lack of any reaction.

She had saved her best thing for Friday. Jade had paid to have a custom made virus made up and she placed it on Tori's laptop.

Sure enough a short while later, Jade looked up and spotted the very angry looking Tori Vega approaching her table. Finally she felt some measure of success and stood up to greet the Latina with a rather snarky comment.

With no warning, Tori punched Jade and with such force she flew across the table and landed on the ground.

After being stunned for a moment Jade started to pick herself off the ground. Only then did she become aware of several things. Her jaw hurt like hell and people were cheering and laughing.

But for some reason the most devastating part of it was that Tori had hit her. Just the knowledge of it, hurt more than the punch did.

Jade also realized she was covered in food.

It all culminated in a moment of utter humiliation and oddly enough heartbreak. All Jade could do was flee. She returned home, hid in her room, cried and spent the weekend watching horror films and nursing her emotional wounds. She also cut apart every one of her stepmother's glamor magazines, then moved on to her father's sport's illustrated. She tried to keep the Latina off her mind, but not very successfully.

Jade had little desire to return to school the next day but did so anyway. She had always been tough, fierce and feared. But they laughed at her and for the first time, Jade found herself afraid and full of angst. With each step towards the school, she could hear their laughter ringing in her head. It reminded her of the taunts she used to experience in grade school. A lot of the girls like to make fun of the quiet, dour girl in black.

Jade started her day and soon enough she began to hear people snickering as she came by. It only made her feel worse. Things really turned dark when Trina Vega yanked Jade in a practice room and yelled at her.

As if Jade had enough, Beck stepped in and gave his 5 cents. But unlike Trina he actually tried to help, by making a valid point and not threats.

His point was that that Jade's bitchy persona had worked all too well and people, Tori included, had begun to view her as what she appeared to be. That while Tori did wrong, Jade herself only worsened matters through her own behavior.

It wasn't until Beck pointed out that they cheered her being punched, that his point really hit home. Jade has always prided herself on her acting and singing abilities. In her mind, the others may not like her; they had to at least give her credit for her skills. Or so Jade thought.

It was that realization that put a serious dent in her self-image. Walking out of the practice room alone a few minutes later, Jade felt half in a daze. Beck had hoped his speech would have some effect, what he didn't realize is that it worked a little too well.

Jade began to question herself. "Just who am I. Am I feared? Am I hated? Do I want to be hated?"

It was just after lunch that Jade saw Cat in the hallway. Seeing her half lost expression, the red haired girl, walked up.

"Jade? What's wrong?"

Pausing for a moment, Jade then found herself asking, without really thinking about it. "Am I a bully?"

Almost instantly Cat averted her eyes and bit her lip.

That reaction was answer enough and before Cat could say anything, Jade walked off.

She had never thought of herself as a bully. She simply thought of herself as Jade and Jade does what Jade does. But now for some reason that was bothering her. Was Tori right to think Jade was messing with her, Jade found herself wondering?

It was just another blow to her self-image.

She just kept thinking about it, unable to think about much else. Just who was she?

The next morning, she stopped by Sikowitz's tiny office and knocked on the door. Looking up, Sikowitz took a sip from his coconut and smiled.

"So Jade, what can I do for you?"

"The people here, do they respect my talents? Do they respect me? Be honest, please?"

Sikowitz reached up and ran his hand though his beard, with a slightly pensive expression. "Jade, your very talented. Extremely so, but others don't see you as I do. Jade what…..

"Thanks." Jade said turning and leaving before, Sikowitz finished his sentence.

Over the next two days, Jade kept largely to herself, gradually becoming more and more depressed. Slowly she was coming to the conclusion that she had crossed the line from, bitchy, independent and fierce to something much worse. It was because of that, Tori didn't consider Jade really meant it when she asked her out. Tori also hadn't apologize as she felt there was no point in it. Jade also began to question her own behavior, lashing out which pushed Tori to violence.

Jade began to openly wonder.

"Maybe Tori was right to not want to date me?"

"Maybe I drove her, a good girl, to do what she did"

"Am I truly the bully, everyone thinks I am?"

She felt lost, disconnected and began to doubt herself and her own abilities, more and more. Looking at herself in the mirror, she began to like what she saw less and less. She had been perceived as a bully, because she had become a bully. Jade also concluded that was the true reason Tori stood her up. Beck was the one that finally broke up with her and Jade replayed that in her mind. Did I drive him away, she pondered

Finally Thursday came, the day Tori was to return. Jade found herself more nervous and apprehensive than before. Openly she was quiet and dour, internally she began to feel like she was slowly coming apart.

She happened on to Tori, just as the outburst happened. While Jade put on a stoic and somewhat critical look she suddenly felt very guilty for having pushed Tori to this.

But in her state, she couldn't even think of facing Tori. So when Beck happened by, she quickly sent him to help.

Jade avoided Tori and the rest of her friends for the remainder of the day. She even skipped out of the classes they had together.

The next day Jade, still very depressed was walking down the hallway when she heard a certain Latina's voice behind her.

"Jade?"

After briefly tensing up, Jade turned around and did her best to look, normal.

"Jade you don't have to say anything, but just hear me out." Said Tori, as she fidgeted slightly.

Jade just nodded.

"I was wrong, I was wrong to not believe you and hit you. No matter what you did, it was no excuse to hit you or stand you up. I should have apologized before, but I am now. I am sorry."

Jade wanted to respond, but as soon as Tori finished speaking, she was hit with a hundred different emotions all at once; guilt, fear, pain, depression the works. She felt so overwhelmed all she could do was just nod ever so slightly, in acknowledgement.

Looking slightly relieved. "Thank you for hearing me out. I'll leave you alone."

Tori had apologized but Jade felt no better. In fact she slowly started to sink deeper into depression as she really didn't feel like she deserved an apology.

The more she thought about it all, the worse she felt and the worse she felt the more she thought about it. The whole thing was a vicious circle and Jade couldn't stop spiraling downward. .

By Saturday, the next day, Jade was feeling utterly lost and by then her whole self-image had pretty much fallen apart. But thinking about Tori, she was reminded of how forgiving the Latina truly was. And feeling as horrible as she was, she reasoned that if she apologized in kind, it may actually help. In a way it felt like a last ditch effort to undo what had been done.

So early Saturday afternoon, she managed to drag herself out of her room and drove to Tori's house. Much to her disappointment, Trina Vega answered the door.

"What do you want?" Snapped Trina.

"I wanted to speak to Tori?" Jade said, her voice and her spirits faltering.

"Why? I told you to stay away from her!"

"I just wanted to apologize. I was wrong and maybe thought I could try and fix things."

"Well she's not here. She and my mom went grocery shopping."

"Look, I've been a bitch but I want to make things up. Could you at least tell Tori, to call me today. I'd just like to apologize. Please." Jade pleaded. Not even caring that it was Trina who she was pleading to.

Trina narrowed her eyes for a moment then huffed. "Fine, when she gets back I'll tell her you stopped by and have her call you. But just that!"

"Thank you." Jade said, as she turned to leave.

It was just over an hour later when Holly and Tori Vega came through the front door, groceries in hand.

Holly Vega put two bags of groceries down on the counter and looked to her oldest daughter. "Trina we've got lots of bags in the car. Could you go and get some please."

Nodding, Trina got off the couch. "Ok."

Having already put her groceries down, Tori joined Trina on her way to the car. "So Trina, anything happen at all when we were gone?"

Trina shook her head. "No, nothing happened. Nothing at all. Just another boring Saturday."

 **So Jade's been going through sort of an internal crisis of sorts. All of this has seriously damaged herself image. Unfortunately when she did reach out to Tori, Trina didn't tell her it happened.**

 **Sometimes when you see yourself in a different light, especially when it's a negative one, it can really shake you to your core. Jade is no exception. Between Tori's rejection, her realizing she's hated and not respected and Cat confirming she is a bully, she's taken a huge hit to her psyche.**


	7. Loose Lips

**Disclaimer: The show Victorious, its characters and other associated copyrights are property of someone else and not me.**

 **Unfairly judged.**

 **Chapter 7 – Loose lips.**

 **No One's POV.**

It wasn't easy for Tori to apologize on that Friday. But she did. She was very afraid of making this horrible situation even worse by saying the wrong thing. But she managed to get it out and do it.

She had no idea how the Goth would react and after a moment, Jade did. While her facial expression was very guarded, she nodded ever so slightly in acknowledgement. While it wasn't quite what she hoped, the simple acknowledgment came as a relief.

The rest of the weekend, Tori kept busy doing chores and working on a very large paper for history. While she was occupied he mind kept going back to Jade. She hoped that Jade would respond in kind as Beck suggested she would.

But there was no call or any communication from Jade. Tori was sure Jade would make some effort and that rather disappointed her.

Monday as she was eating her breakfast, her thoughts again were on Jade.

"Hey sis." Said Trina from across the table, as she took a bit of toast.

Pulled from her thoughts by Trina, Tori looked up. "What?"

"That Jade thing still bugging you?"

Tori nodded. "Yes. I was hoping she'd call or reciprocate in some way."

"Tori, you're being too impatient. Things take time and rushing things doesn't help. I'd guess she has lots to sort through."

"What do I do then?"

"Well, last week at school she kept to herself, pretty much all the time, so obviously she wants some space. Some time to think things through. So my best advice is to give her the space she wants. Just stay clear of her, don't try and talk to her and let her come to you when she feels the time is right. That's assuming she does. Who can tell with her. Just be patient and realistic."

Trina was proud of her little speech and hoped it would keep Tori away Jade not just in the near future, but permanently. While she had no problems with Tori dating girls, she just didn't want her sister dating a cruel, morbid, death obsessed, freak. As far as she was concerned, all Jade did was bring misery and she wanted her sister to be no part of it.

Across the table, Tori thought about what Trina had said and found it sounding quite logical. It was nice for Trina to be helpful and supportive for once and that was something she appreciated.

Tori smiled at her sister. "Thanks Trina, I'll do that."

"Hey no problem, what are big sisters for."

So with that plan in mind Tori headed to school. It was before the first period when she first saw Jade over at her locker. But giving Jade her space, Tori quickly grabbed her books and left before the Goth could look over.

"Best to leave before she looks over, I don't want any awkward moments to mess things up. I don't want her to feel obligated either. It's for the best." Tori thought, not wanting to do anything wrong.

Jade of course, wasn't thinking that. She had spent all day Saturday and all day Sunday waiting for Tori to call. Normally her cynical nature would have quickly told her that Trina probably didn't give her the message. However, Jade in her rather vulnerable state, never even considered it and as a result felt more unwanted and alone.

She could only surmise that Tori in apologizing, only wanted to put this behind her and any thought of otherwise was not something she wanted. She actually had seen Tori out of the corner of her eye and hoped that the Latina would come over to talk.

"Maybe she was busy and didn't get the chance. Now she'll talk to me." Rationalized Jade.

But when she turned to look, she saw Tori walking away.

"I guess she doesn't want to talk to me." Said the Goth, with a sad expression.

Jade feeling rather down, went about her day and actually passed Trina in the hallway after 3rd period.

Trina seeing Jade looking at her, decided to speak before Jade could say anything. "Jade, I told her you stopped by. If she didn't call you, then she didn't' call you."

Jade just lowered her head and walked on, much to Trina's delight.

Over the next several days, a pattern emerged. Tori did her best to avoid Jade and give her space and Jade seeing Tori avoiding her, gradually felt worse. Her feelings of isolation and inadequacy only grew. Despite the way she acted, she really wanted to be liked, by Tori especially. But as the days passed, Jade concluded, that wasn't the case.

Jade while wanting Tori's attention, also continued to stay away from her other friends and had less desire to be around them as her feelings of rejection grew more profound. Attempts by Beck, Andre and Cat to talk to her, went nowhere. She had concluded that Tori didn't like her and that was that; the rest she really didn't about anymore.

By Friday, Tori wondered, why Jade hadn't made any attempt to talk to her. It was puzzling, as initially it appeared they could work things out. But the Goth had been moody sullen and seemed to avoid everyone all week. By that point, she began to wonder if Jade really liked her. So on Friday afternoon, she decided to make yet another attempt to talk to Jade.

So near the end of the day she spotted Jade at her locker, took a deep breath and approached.

Jade had spotted the approaching Latina and not being able to handle her feelings of rejection, put her hand out as if to stop Tori.

"Tori, There's no other way to say this. I made a mistake in asking you out. I never should have. It was futile and pointless to think we could be anything to each other. We're not friends, we're not anything. So let's just cut our losses and go our separate ways. I do owe you some money to cover your losses and eventually I'll get the money to you, to make us even. I don't want to owe you anything. But other than that, let's just pretend, we don't know each other."

Jade then slammed her locker shut and walked off, before the stunned Latina could say a word.

That evening at home, Trina consoled Tori, who was rather upset at the stunning rejection. But inside she was smiling as her plan had worked perfectly. Tori and Jade were no longer on speaking terms.

Trina told Tori that Jade was a fool to reject her and better things would come.

"I know you hoped things would work out, but some things don't. It's a simple fact of life. Just pick yourself up, remember you're a great person and move on." Trina said.

She would be very supportive of her sister after that. Trying her best to get Tori over jade.

Tori spoke to Beck over the weekend and told him what happened. Beck however, had no idea what had happened and for once, had no idea what to tell her.

He did try and call, but he found that Jade no longer answered her phone, nor did she return any voice mails or texts. Cat and the others when they tried to reach out got the same non-response.

After that Jade simply detached from the group, making no attempt to speak to them or anyone else for that matter. Jade, feeling alone, rejected, utterly inadequate, simply no longer cared. She didn't cut herself or think of doing herself in, she detached, not only from her friends but pretty much everything else. She went to school, did the bare minimum of what she needed to do and at night she confined herself to her room where she either watched horror movies, or lost herself in computer games. They were a secret love of hers, with the fallout series, Starcraft and Xcom being her favorites. As a result of her apathy, her grades started to slip, but like everything else, she didn't care.

Tori on the other hand felt stung by Jade's sudden rejection and felt quite badly about it. Over the next few weeks, she went thought all the things she could have done differently. But in time , at Trina's urging, she reluctantly began to push thoughts of Jade out of her mind.

In this time, however another change had been made. Trina, with the absence of Jade had begun to hang out with the group and they seemed to accept her. Though Tori suspected that they only did it for her sake, but they seemed to really warm to her after a while. Regardless, Tori found herself getting along a lot better with Trina. Of course, Trina liking Beck, did her best to hang out with him, as much as possible and in those few weeks they gradually became closer.

About 2 months after the day Tori got the final brush off from Jade, Andre's new girlfriend Ella, threw a birthday party for Andre at her house. It was a typical party with music, lots of people, beer and everyone was having a great time.

Tori was hanging with Cat and Robbie, out on the patio and Trina was drinking and flirting on a couch with Beck in the rec room basement. Jade of course, was not there.

"Hey Trina, slow down a little. That must be your 7th or 8th beer by now. Pace yourself." Cautioned Beck, as he took a sip of his beer.

The rather drunk Trina smiled. "Don't you me drunk. Beer googles you know, the more I drink the better I look…..oh…or is that the other way around?"

"You look fine Trina, sober or not."

"Thank you Beck. You like me don't you."

Playing coy, Beck shrugged. "I could be accused of that."

Trina poked Beck in the chest. "Well, I'm accusing you of that."

"Guilty. So what are you going to do about it."

"This." Trina said as she leaned in and kissed Beck.

After the kiss, Beck took Trina's hand. "Well, I guess, I'll have to take you out on a date now."

"Only if you ask."

Beck chuckled. "Do I have to ask?"

"Yes."

Trina grinned like the cat that ate the canary. "Ok, Trina will you go out with me?"

"Yes."

"It's nice that you started to hang with us. Your fun, that's why I like you."

Trina slammed her beer and took Beck's hand. "Just you wait, to see how fun I am. I like hanging with you guys. It was easy, once I got Jade out of the way."

Though he'd had a bit to drink, Beck quickly picked up on Trina's comment Wanting to know, more, he smiled and kissed her once again to keep her talkative.

"You did get Jade out of the way, didn't you." Beck said with his best smile.

Smiling proudly, the drunk Trina raised a fist. "Damn straight."

Beck smiled. "So babe, Jade's really tricky. How did you do it?" Me, I'm glad you did. It's always awkward having your ex around."

Trina pumped fist into the air. "All I had to do was not tell Tori that Jade stopped by the day after Tori apologized. Tori was out shopping with my mom, when Jade came by. Jade wanted Tori to call her, as she wanted to apologize. As if Jade could apologize for anything. Then the following Monday, I advised Tori, to give Jade a lot of distance. So Jade would think that Tori was no longer interested. Finally I told Jade that I did tell Tori that she stopped by. Jade concluded that Tori didn't like her and didn't want to fix things and boom, Jade is history. What a horrible bitch….I did all of you a favor."

Though proud of her achievement and new boyfriend, Trina quickly wondered why the smile on Becks' face all of sudden vanished.

"What's wrong, Beck? Need a kiss?" Trina said as she moved into kiss him, only to have him back off.

Shaking his head in disgust, Beck stood up. "They say beauty is only skin deep. It's just a saying most of the time, but in your case, all too true. You know what, I take back me wanting to take you out. I prefer to date girls with character, something you're lacking. Jade has feelings, she's a person and so does your sister."

Realizing she had blown it by blabbing while drunk, what she did, Trina pleaded. "No, please…don't tell Tori. Please. Beck I like you. I'll make it up to you."

Ignoring her plea, Beck turned and walked out of the room. Moments later he was up on the patio, by Tori, Cat, and Robbie.

"Tori." Beck said as he walked up.

Noting the urgent tone in his voice, Tori stood up. "Yeah, Beck what's up?"

"We need to talk."

"What's going on?"

"That day after you apologized to Jade. Jade stopped by your house. You were out with your mom. Jade wanted to talk to you and apologize. Trina just told me that she kept it from you. She told Jade she'd give you the message. Then she told you to give her some space, then she lied to Jade and told her you got the message. She lied to both of you to keep you apart."

Tori barely had a moment to process the information when her a now crying Trina, ran up.

"Please Tori, Don't be mad, I was doing it for your own good."

Remembering her regret from hitting Jade, Tori did her best to calm her ever increasing rage.

Instead she slapped her sister across the face.

"Trina, Sisters are supposed to watch out for each other…..you...you...you're no sister of mine. Go to hell."

 **Ooops….looks like Trina's little plan kind of blew up in her face**. **Can Tori and Jade pick up the pieces and come together or is the damage unrepairable?**

 **The chapter title comes from the old saying, "Loose lips, sink ships." It was a phrase used by people in the 2nd world war. To remind them that taking about anything war related, such as mentioning a ship would be leaving port, could be used by the enemy, if it fell into their hands.**


	8. landshark

**Disclaimer: The show Victorious, its characters and other associated copyrights are property of someone else and not me.**

 **Unfairly judged.**

 **Chapter 8 – Landshark**

 **Tori's pov.**

It's amazing I had the self-restraint not punch my sister's lights out, right then and there. But, violence has serious consequences and I'd get in about 10 times more trouble with my parents for hitting Trina than Jade. Not wanting to deal with her any more I stormed out of the party and drove off.

Things had gotten so bad and finally there had been a glimmer of hope that, we'd be able to set things right again. Trina took that hope and smashed it. I was livid.

In driving, I found myself heading towards Jade's home. It was roughly on the way to my own, but I had taken a slightly longer route that went very near it. I didn't even realize I did it at first.

Looking at the dashboard clock in my car, I could see it was about 10:45. I knew Jade would still be up, I could apologize. So I drove to Jade and parked in front of her house. I'd never been there before, but Cat had told me where it was once, so I easily found it.

The house itself was a 2 story, brown, wooden, gothic revival house that had a large porch. It looked a lot older than the houses around it and the green light from the streetlight across the street, bathed it in an eerie light. Like Jade herself, it looked quite imposing.

As I stepped out of the car, I could see one light on downstairs and just a hint of light shooting out from behind curtains on one the upper floor. I started up the walk towards the front door, but found with each step, that I was getting more and more nervous.

By the time I reached the door, my stomach felt like it was filled with butterflies. It's a bit of a cliché, but that's how I felt. My hands were shaking and I was trying to think of just the right apology.

I moved my hand to press the bell, but suddenly found myself unable. Right then and there, I felt this horrible wave of fear and pessimism wash away, what courage I had left.

The damage is done and I can't fix it. No amount of apologies will make up for this. So I quietly turned around and went home. I simply couldn't do it.

The next morning, I woke up feeling horrible. Not just for what had happened, but the fact that I walked away. I just couldn't get myself to ring that bell. I don't know if it's because I really didn't know how'd Jade react or just the feeling I got that it was pointless.

It was about 10 am, and I was still lying in bed, mulling it over when I heard a knock at my door.

"Yes?"

"Tori can I talk to you?" I heard my sister say from the other side of the door. Just the sound of her voice, brought back every ounce of betrayal I felt.

"FUCK OFF TRINA!"

She knocked again but I ignored her and she went away. I showered, dressed and still feeling horrible about it all, worked on my music; sing my new refurbished laptop.

Around 12:30 I came down and finding no one home, started to eat my lunch. Just then the doorbell rang.

Part of me hoped it would be Jade, but instead it was Beck.

"Hey."

I motioned for him to enter. "Come on in. I was just about to eat my lunch, can I get you something?"

"No, I was just stopping by. To see how you were?"

I sighed. "I feel horrible. I had a chance to fix all this and Trina sabotages me. It's too late though."

Beck tilted his head slightly. "Why do you say that?"

"I don't know. I even went by there last night, but I chickened out. I just couldn't face her. That and I just felt like it was too late."

"Tori, you have to give Jade more credit. You're making the same mistake again. Don't assume things."

"I just can't. I'm so afraid I'm going to make it worse."

Shifting his eyes for a moment, Beck smiled. "Then I'll do it for you."

"No please don't. You've done enough already." I pleaded. Now I'm a coward.

"I can talk to her. If you like."

I was torn, I both wanted him to go and not to go. He could get us talking, but could I really do what's necessary, to fix things. I was so afraid that I'd do the wrong thing.

"I…I don't know. You've done enough already."

Beck smiled reassuringly. "Tell you what. I'll just let Jade know what happened, tell her, you're sorry for it all and then I'll back off. Let the chips fall where they may."

I bit my lip. "Could you. Just tell her, I would have called and I feel terrible. Even then I'm not sure if I could face her."

"Have faith in yourself, have faith in Jade."

"Thank you."

 **Beck's POV**

I had a feeling that Tori would not be able to face Jade. I also knew Tori deep down wanted to make this right. So I went over and sure enough, I would be able to bridge the gap. Now, I have no idea what would happen, but it was worth a try.

So I left Tori's home and drove straight to Jades. As luck would have it, Jade's mother, Marlene, answered the door. She smiled immediately upon seeing me.

"Hello Beck. It's been a while. How are you?"

Jade's mom always liked me, a bit much. Which irritated Jade to no end. Something I secretly enjoyed. I never considered doing anything, it was just a bit fun watching the sparks fly.

"I'm fine thank you. Is Jade home? I'd like the chance to speak with her."

"Oh yes, she's moping in her room. That's all she does now a days. Perhaps you can get her to unlock the door and leave it. I think it's beginning to smell in here. If she didn't come out to use the bathroom once and a while, I'd start to think she died in there. If you can get her to let you in and that's not likely."

"I'll see what I can do."

"Great. You should come over to dinner one of these days. I missed our talks."

"Maybe. I think I'll go up and see Jade."

Mrs. West motioned to the stairway. "Be my guest."

I bounded up the stairs and upon reaching Jade's door, noticed the faint smell of something nasty coming from Jade's room. Spoiled food perhaps, I speculated.

Undeterred, I knocked.

"Go away Mom!" Came an annoyed sounding shout, that could only belong to Jade.

 _"Mrs._ _Arlsburgerhhh_ " I mumbled, starting the beginning of one of my old favorite Saturday night live skits, the landshark. One I knew Jade loved as well. We used to love watching the old SNL, when everyone was on drugs and it was actually funny. It was likely my only way to get her open the door. She almost always keeps it locked.

No response, so I continued.

Again I mumbled." _Mrs. Johannesburrrr?_

Again nothing.

So I continued. _"Flowers."_

Suddenly I heard her give the next line. She sounded horribly annoyed, but she gave it. "Flowers for who?"

 _"Plumber, Ma'am"_

 _"I don't need a plumber. You're that clever shark, aren't you?"_

 _"Candygram!"_

Jade was playing along, which meant she might actually answer the door. Then again she may simply go quiet after this."

 _"Candygram, my foot! Get out of here before I call the proper authorities. You're the shark, and you know it."_

 _"I'm only a dolphin ma'am"_

 _"A dolphin? Well.. okay.."_ and then the door swung upon to reveal a somewhat disheveled looking Jade, wearing shorts, a slayer t-shirt and a black bathrobe. She smelled like she hadn't bathed since Friday.

"You're not the fucking land shark." She said with a scowl.

Before she could slam the door in my face, I pushed past her into her room, which was looking rather messy with clothes, candy wrappers and half eaten bags of potato chips on the floor. Jade's normally rather neat with her room, but obviously things have changed.

"Love what you've done with the place."

Ignoring my comment, Jade closed the door and went back to her computer which looked like it was in the middle of a game. Jade then went back to the game and seemed to ignore me.

Walking over I could see she was playing 1st person shooter, Fallout: New Vegas and appeared to be in one of the casinos that are present in the game..

I watched, as she walked up to one of the blackjack dealers and paused.

"That one looks like Tori." I remarked.

"I know she does!" Jade responded, offhandedly.

Then without further ado, Jade had her character pull out an assault carbine and then promptly gunned her down. Of course chaos broke out as all the other gamblers started to run and the security all started shooting. Jade calmly shot everyone dead, even the gamblers trying to flee. Then she had her character go out on the street and murder more people.

"I've killed that dealer a bunch of times. Shot her, used a flamethrower, a fatman mini nuke, grenades, landmines, but the assault carbine is my favorite mode of death. Then I just kill everyone else in the city. I love it when the heads blow off."

"Do you do that all the time?" I asked cautiously.

"No, most of the time I play straight, but occasionally I just gun her down and go on a mass murder spree; at least until the securitrons kill me." Jade said, without taking her eyes off the screen.

I pull up a chair and sat down. "Speaking of the recently departed, I have some news."

"Don't want to hear it. Now go away!"

"Well you were dumb enough to let me in, so you'll hear it. Then I'll leave you to your mass murder spree."

"Out with it." Jade grumbled, sounding like she was losing patience.

"Trina lied to you."

For a moment Jade stopped her murder spree, but then resumed, but didn't respond.

"Jade, she never told Tori you came by. She got drunk last night and blabbed it to me. I told Tori right away. She also advised Tori to give you a lot of space the following week. So you would get the impression she was no longer interested. So Trina lied to you. Tori for the record, feels horrible about it, is furious with Trina and says she would have called you had she known."

Jade stopped her game, ran her hands through her messy hair then lowered her head. "What do you expect me to do about it?"

"Whatever you choose. A lot of feelings have been hurt, both you have regrets. Tori wanted to apologize in person, but she's scared and I think, really embarrassed. She also doesn't want to make things any worse. So I told her, I'd set the record straight and leave you two to whatever you choose to do. Maybe you talk and attempt to work things out, maybe you don't. But that said, my work is done and I'll leave you."

Jade, her head still lowered, didn't move or speak. So I got up and as I got to the door said.

"We miss you. All of us. You're talented, funny, dark, strange, clever, impulsive, sometimes repulsive, but we do miss you. See you later Jade."

Then I left, closing the door behind me.

 **No one's POV**

The following day, Tori walked into school not knowing what would happen next. Not sure if she could get up the courage to speak to Jade. Would Jade talk to her, Tori simply didn't know.

She wanted to fix it, badly, but just wasn't sure if it was possible.

She was so much in thought she didn't look where she was going and bumped into someone as she entered.

As she turned to apologize, the words never came out of her parted lips. She had bumped into Jade of all people and just that knowledge, caused her nearly to panic.

For a moment Tori studied her face which other than mild surprise, showed little else.

In that moment, the girls stood eye to eye, neither one saying a word. Both contemplating what to do next, contemplating their fears, hopes, anxieties, anger, regret. Was it too late?

It was Jade who broke the silence, in a soft voice, barely above a whisper.

"Hi"

 **The landshark skit, which is italics is from an old episode of Saturday Night Live. I didn't writ that and used it without permission.**

 **Fallout: New Vegas is a post apocalyptic first person shooter.**

 **So Jade said hi, what will Tori say back?**


	9. Little Conversations

**Disclaimer: The show Victorious, its characters and other associated copyrights are property of someone else and not me.**

 **Unfairly Judged.**

 **Chapter 9 – Little Conversations**

 **No one's POV.**

Ever since Jade was told about Trina's deception, she couldn't decide what to do. There was her apathy and depression that told her that it was pointless and her romantic side, and Jade did have one, which hoped that things could work out. So Jade wrestled with her dilemma constantly going back and forth, not even sure what if anything she'd say to Tori, if she encountered her.

When she walked into school, Jade felt more depressed than anything as that side, seemingly had won the battle. It's all pointless, mused Jade.

It was a moment later, while Jade was immersed in thought, that someone bumped into her. In old days, Jade would promptly turn and snap at whoever it was. But Jade at the moment was only a remnant of her old self, so she simply turned to see who it was.

It was Tori, which besides surprising Jade, sent her into a panic. For an instant, she froze not having the slightest idea, what to do. Filled with self-doubt she quickly concluded that there was no hope.

It was a glance into Tori's beautiful brown eyes, brown eyes that Jade could see were filled with regret and self-doubt that for a moment made her feel not so quite alone. Jade had always loved Tori's eyes, having always thought they looked so soft and inviting. Her eyes alone, gave Jade the courage to speak.

It was only a single word and all Jade could manage, but it was a word.

"Hi."

Stunned by Jade's saying, Hi, Tori was a taken a back and just like Jade found herself not sure of what to do.

After a brief but awkward silence, Tori blurted out the only thing she could think of.

"I'm sorry my sister lied to you. I….I….I…would have called. I didn't know."

Jade nodded slightly. "Ok."

"I didn't know….really….." Tori repeated, for lack of anything else to say.

Again Jade nodded, as the sense of unease between the two only began to grow.

"I didn't…." Tori said, her voice trailing off nervously.

Jade unable to stand the horrible awkwardness, nodded a third time, turned round and started to walk off.

As she watched Jade walked off and feeling like something was slipping away, Tori called out.

"Can we talk some other time…."

Jade paused, without looking back. "Are you afraid of me?"

"Should I be?" Was Tori's response, something she regretted saying an instant later.

"Tori, this all started because you misjudged me, thought I was something to be feared. If that remains the case, than I don't see much point in us….talking."

"Jade, I stopped by the other night, after I found out that Trina lied. I even got to your front door. But I chickened out. For the most part, I was afraid of saying the wrong thing. I'm so afraid of that…" Tori continued to speak, but her voice began to shake slightly. "But in all honestly, I was afraid of how you'd react. At least partially. It's not easy for me to admit it. But I am. I'm not perfect. I make mistakes."

"Do you think I'm perfect?"

"No..er I mean no….you are…but no…." Stammered Tori.

Not moving, Jade let out a small sigh.

Finally in desperation Tori stepped forward. "Yes, Jade I'm scared. Of you and making things worse. That's why we should talk. Get to know each other….I mean really know each other. I'm sure you have things you want to say too. It doesn't have to be all at once. I just want to talk. Maybe you're afraid of me too. We'll never know or be able to get past it, if we don't' talk."

After Tori stopped speaking she could only pray that her little speech helped, but Jade didn't respond. In fact, Jade just stood there, her back to her.

"You're being honest.…..maybe, we'll talk later."

Jade then walked off, leaving Tori alone.

It was Tori's honesty about being afraid that convinced Jade to try and take another step. It wouldn't be easy of course, as her feelings were still badly hurt. Jade's self-esteem being damaged as well, she wasn't sure if the Latina would really like her.

 **Tori's POV**

It wasn't easy to admit that not only was I afraid of doing the wrong thing, but that I feared her as well. It's not a good idea to tell someone you want to date that you both fear and mistrust them. I felt that it was worth the risk to be honest with her and my gamble appears to have paid off.

We did talk, but the conversation was short, awkward and kind of uncomfortable. I hope our next one goes better.

She kept to herself the rest of the day and as she had been in the few months, looked somewhat depressed and apathetic. I know I hurt her feelings but what else is she feeling? I simply don't know. Just one of the many things about Jade I don't know.

I thought about approaching her later on that day, but decided to let her make the next move when she felt comfortable about it.

That came the next day. As I came back into school after lunch, I saw Jade further down the deserted hallway, about 20 yards off. For the record, he hasn't eaten lunch with us since this started.

"Feel free to flee?" Quipped Jade, in a somewhat cynical tone of voice.

She was being cynical, but I also sensed she was challenging me in some way.

I stood my ground and narrowed my eyes. "What if I don't want too?"

"You're afraid aren't you?"

"I could ask you the same question." I challenged back, causing her face to briefly scrunch up.

After a moment of silence, I spoke again.

"I've had some time to think Jade. And though I made several mistakes, try and look at it from my point of view. "

"And what's that?"

Taking a step forward, I took a deep breath and said. "I can't say I really know you. Yes, you're stunningly beautiful, smart, talented, abrasive and love all things scissor and horror related, but there has to be more than that. I can only know what I see. For example; you asked me out and was nicer to me in the week or two before you did. But about 3 weeks before you did, you told me that you hated me. I think you're exact words were. Vega, I hate you. Now as I see it, you were either telling the truth or not telling the truth. If you were telling the truth, then why 3 weeks later did you ask me out? If were not telling the truth, then why lie to me."

Once I had finished speaking I watched her expression carefully. Her mouth parted slightly and for a moment she looked somewhat frustrated and just a bit nervous.

"It's complicated."

I said, while taking another step towards her. "What's complicated?"

Looking slightly more nervous, Jade stepped back and suddenly looked to the floor. "My….my feelings."

Now it was my time to be cynical and though I wasn't sure if it was a good idea, I ran with it. "The way you act sometimes, one could easily think you don't have any."

"Well I do!" Snapped Jade viciously. "And you walked all over them!"

I had obviously struck a nerve, but at the same time, her response struck a nerve in me. So, I snapped right back. "I get it, you're afraid; at least I had the balls to admit it."

I seemed to have caught her off guard as her jaw now hung open. Before she could react I said. "Let me know when you decide to actually act like a person who supposedly likes me. "

Then I turned and walked off. As soon as rounded the corner I started to shake. Was that even a good idea. I think I just blew it. Yes I messed up, but she messed up too. How was I supposed to know she had real feelings, I'm not psychic.

The rest of the day I only caught an occasional glimpse of Jade. I'm pretty sure she was not avoiding me. That only made me feel like crap. I shouldn't have said what I said.

I was still feeling that way at the end of the day as I left the school and headed towards my car. But no sooner as I had gotten 10 feet out of the school did I hear Jade's voice behind me.

"You can be pretty harsh when you need to."

"I don't like to be like that." I said, without turning around.

"Did you think I wouldn't talk to you again?"

I then turned around to see Jade sitting off to the side, on one of steps, eating an apple.

"I did think I might have blown it. Have I?"

"I'm talking to you, aren't I."

"So what are we talking about then?"

Jade paused for a moment, briefly looking at the cloudy sky. "I just wanted to tell you that, I'm afraid. Yes Vega, even I get afraid.

I was tempted to make a snarky reply, but didn't. "Afraid you're feelings my get hurt."

"Amongst other things."

"So Jade, can I ask you a question."

"Go ahead."

"That day when you told me you hated me. Did you lie or did you tell the truth."

"I lied. That time and all the other times."

"Because you were afraid?"

"Can I answer that question later?"

It was an odd request, but considering we were talking and slowly making progress, I was willing to go along.

"Ok. So that means, we'll talk again?"

"I'd like too. We have a ways to go…."

"Till we get where?"

Jade merely made a smile, took a bite of her apple and walked off.

The next few days, Jade kept quiet, but occasionally she'd look over at me. Finally on Friday, she walked up to me.

"Your sister avoids me like the plague."

I instantly scowled. "I don't have a sister!"

"So you two don't talk?"

"No. My parents know the score. Trina got yelled at and she tried to apologize again, but don't want anything to do with her. Now my parents think I'm being stubborn."

Jade shifted her feet. "You're willing to forgive me, but not her."

"Can we not talk about her, please? Besides, I don't think we've quite forgiven each other yet. Am I wrong?"

"No. But to help that. I have something for you."

"What's that."

From her purse, Jade pulled out a check and handed it to Tori.

Turning it over, I could see it was a check for $250 dollars, which was a pleasant surprise.

"I found out from Beck that you sold your Taylor Swift Tickets for $250 so you could have your car cleaned. I couldn't get you tickets. The cheapest ones I found were from a scalper and he was charging over a thousand. I couldn't afford that. But I could refund the money you spent."

"Thank you."

That first conversation was horribly awkward, the others since then less so, but still filled with a tension between us. I so much wanted it to go away, but things take time.

I looked at the check and put it in my purse. "Thanks again. I'll see you around."

"See ya, Vega."

Starting to walk off, I heard Jade call out again but in a tone full of genuine concern..

"I looked out the window a few minutes ago. Looks like it's going to rain pretty soon. Hard, by the looks of those dark clouds on the horizon. Drive safe."

"You too Jade. Talk to you later."

"I hope so." Came her reply.

 **So they're talking but still have a ways to go before they full trust and forgive each other. But they're making progress.**

 **I didn't want their reconciliation to be an easy one. I wanted one where they start off very uncomfortable with each other. Something they only gradually get over. I hope I put that across in my writing.**

 **Next chapter, probably won't be till next week. So until next time…..**


	10. A bit of a temper

**Disclaimer: The show Victorious, its characters and other associated copyrights are property of someone else and not me.**

 **Unfairly Judged**

 **Chapter 10 – A bit of a temper.**

 **Jade's POV.**

I feel like a total mess some days. I thought I had everything figured out. I was Jade; mean, fierce, uber talented, respected and unstoppable. But now, with everything that's happened, I feel like I've become unraveled. At the same time, I feel apathetic, as if it's hopeless.

Things have changed though, Trina's treachery has been exposed and Vega and I are talking again. Not really talking, just a few short conversations. The first one was hideously awkward, the others since, less so.

Could there be a chance that we could go on that date, I'd wanted to go on. I want to, but I still don't fully trust her. I still have hurt feelings and bear some resentment for how she treated me. I know I brought some of this on myself, but it's still hard.

It was Monday and I had been avoiding Tori all morning. I just wasn't up to it. That and I just didn't know what to say. I hadn't spoke to her, or anyone else for that matter all weekend.

Finally just before lunch, Tori her brown hair looking particularly silky today, cornered me just before I was going to find a place to hide and eat my lunch.

"You've been avoiding me today."

"So."

"Well…..I was wondering if you'd like to join us for lunch again. Rex even promised not to make fun of you. "

I instinctively scowled. "Why should I?"

Tori half shrugged. "You've barely talked to anyone since all this started and I know you're feeling bad. It may help to join us again. We miss you."

"You mean you miss me."

"No Jade. We all miss you. This isn't about you and I, this is about….I don't know. Just bringing you back into the world."

"No one wants me in the world."

"I do."

"And that's why you weren't home when I came to pick you up." I shot back sharply, in a momentary surge of anger.

Stepping back, Tori sighed. "Jade, I'm sorry. I thought we were making progress."

Pushing the anger aside, I carefully considered my response. "We are, but all these hurt feelings don't just go away. They will come out from time to time. Besides, I am harsh a lot of the time. That's a part of me."

Tori nodded slightly. "Good point. But maybe that's it, I want to know the other side of you. The part you never show. The part that liked me. I handled it all wrong, but you did too. You hid that part of you so well, that people assumed what they saw is all that there was. But back to my original reason, please join us."

I think over it, but find myself very hesitant and scared of going back to the asphalt café. I know it's very unjade like, but I am more than one thing, more than one person.

She must have sensed my fear, so with a reassuring smile, she said. "We all want you there, we're all there for you. I know you're scared. It will be ok."

I'm depressed, apathetic and hurt, but the sight of Tori, looking all fucking beautiful, her brown eyes looking at me all puppy dog like, draws me in. Everything in me tells me not to trust her, but she's been honest and done her best to make things up to me. I won't get anywhere, by isolating myself. I want to trust her. So I fight myself and acquiesce.

"Ok, I'll join you guys."

Tori grinned, which was both annoying and made me feel speical at the same time. "Good, you don't have to sit next to me. I know we have issues to work out still. Cat wanted you to sit next to her."

"Ok. Lead on."

I followed Tori out of the school out onto the asphalt café and at that moment I realized that this was the first time I had been out there since I had been so humiliated by Tori, two months ago. The cynical part of me couldn't help but reflect that it was like Tori was leading me out there like some sort of conquering hero; parading the defeated Jade, for all to see.

Quickly becoming aware of many eyes on me, I hid my apprehension and fear and proceeded on. As we approached the table, I looked to see my friends, if I can call them friends, giving me looks of encouragement

"Jade, welcome." Said Andre.

"Jadey's back. Sit next to me." Squealed Cat.

"Thanks for coming back." Said Beck with a welcoming smile.

"Hi Jade." Came the greeting from robbie.

"See Jade, everything is ok." Said Tori.

No sooner than Tori reassured me, a certain dummy had to put in his 2 cents.

"Knew she'd come crawling back, Hold on to your lunches folks. Miss wimp has returned."

"YOU PROMSIED ME, YOU'D BE NICE!" Shrieked Tori almost instantly.

"I had my fingers crossed." Retorted Rex in a rather smug tone of voice. Sometimes, I really hate that stupid thing….well actually, all the time.

It was like something out of a cartoon, as Tori turned almost blood red and fumed. The only thing missing was steam coming out of her ears. "YOU APOLGOGIZE NOW, OR SO GOD HELP ME I'll…AWWW FUCK IT."

Then with one swift motion, Tori tore off Rex's head and then proceeded to toss it on the roof. Robbie naturally started to get up to go after Rex' s head, but sat back down upon receiving a deathglare from the Latina.

"Leave him where he is….He can return, when he apologizes. And if Rex ever makes a crack like that again, I'm going to take it out on you, starting, by breaking both your hands." Hissed Tori.

"Uhhh….ok…..he….he needs a rest anyway." Replied a rather intimidated looking Robbie, as he cautiously put the rest of Rex down.

My that Latina's, got a bit of a temper on her. I guess it only goes to show that looks aren't everything. It's fun to watch, when you're not on the receiving end of it. I'll have to admit that I kind of liked it. Not only because she got mad, but I could tell she was really upset that I wasn't welcomed as she had wanted me to be.

Now looking rather embarrassed, Tori turned to me. "I'm so sorry Jade. He promised he'd be nice."

"No problem Vega." I said, while making a mental note to get to the roof first and arrange for that head never to be found again.

 **No one's pov.**

Tori, rather embarrassed by both Rex's behavior and her reaction to it, quickly motioned for Jade to sit down. She had hoped this would go perfectly and wanted to integrate Jade back into the group. Jade needed friends and support, Tori had concluded. So Tori figured this would be the best way to help her.

Only Rex's smart mouth, brought things close to disaster. But after a moment Jade sat down next to Cat and started to eat her lunch. Having told them to not badger Jade too much, they for the most part, left her alone, save for an occasional comment or question; though their embarrassment was equally as obvious as Tori's.

Tori of course did keep an eye on Jade to make sure she was comfortable things were going smoothly. The Goth was rather guarded and Tori found herself not sure if Jade would ever return to lunch with them again.

Lunch ended and without a word, Jade nodded and walked off.

Heading towards her next class, Tori sighed.

"Damn. Now she'll never come back."

She felt like she had failed in her quest to help Jade and for the rest of the day felt rather depressed. It didn't help that Jade seemed to avoid her yet again in the afternoon.

Finally at the end of the day, Tori who was still feeling down walked up to her locker. Just as she was about to open it, she heard Jade from behind her.

"Hi."

Tori quickly turned around and apologized. "I'm so sorry Jade….."

Jade quickly put her hand up to stop her. "You already apologized. Rex is rex. I was half expecting that to happen."

"I just wanted it to go perfectly. To show you that not only I care, but the others do as well. But…."

Jade made a half smirk. "You made a good effort. Plus I got another glimpse of that fiery Latin temper of yours."

"I was just so mad. Rex promised me. I just acted again, without thinking. I need to control myself."

"It was a good toss. Right on the roof."

"That's the strange thing. Robbie got permission to go up there, but never found Rex's head. "

"Maybe, cause someone else got to it before he did."

Tori laughed. "Don't suppose you know who that was."

Jade shrugged. "Who knows? Look, you made a decent effort and I appreciate that and you keeping an eye on me."

"I just want to make things up to you. Show you that I really care and you can really trust me."

"I appreciate that. A lot. Thank you. See you tomorrow at lunch." Jade said, as she departed.

The next day as promised, Jade joined them again at the lunch table. Thankfully Rex was absent, having to be repaired. Jade was quiet, but occasionally joined in on the conversation. Though she joined them at lunch, she still kept to herself at other times. But Tori figured she needed to take baby steps and that was fine.

Over the next few days, they had more small conversations. Mostly it was small talk and the conversations went well.

Though occasionally, things didn't go so well as evidenced by Friday morning. Tori had come up to Jade in the morning, with two cups of jetbrew in hand. One of which she eagerly held out.

"I know you usually get some, but from what I've seen, you've normally drank it all by the time you get to school. I didn't know what get normally, so I got black with 2 sugars."

Jade accepted the drink took a sip and smiled. "Trying to get on my good side?"

"Uh…..kinda…yeah…I guess…..though I should say I wanted to just do a nice thing. I wanted to do that too."

After taking another sip, Jade nodded in approval. "Bribe accepted."

"I will say you're looking and acting a bit like your old self. At least you're starting to interact with other people. I mean that in a good way."

"Speaking of interaction, how are things with Trina."

Like hitting a switch, Tori's face instantly hardened. "I told you I don't have a sister….please don't ever bring up that person….to me again."

Then Tori stormed off, leaving a somewhat perplexed looking Jade behind. Though Jade didn't like Trina and was angry herself, she concluded that leaving festering wounds unhealed can lead to more problems in the end.

A few hours later, as Sikowtiz's class came to an end, he handed out several sheets of papers. Tomorrow I'm going to talk about radio acting. Like the radio shows in the old days. Your only tool is your voice and how you use it and it is a bit different. Now it could be considered obsolete, but I feel that to leave out a particular form of acting would not serve your best interests. Besides with the advent of the internet, any person could easily put on their own radio show. Now on the sheets of papers, I've handed out, you'll find a list of websites where you can hear some old radio shows for free. It also lists some apps, that do the same. I want each of you to listen to one hour of old time radio tonight. It can be anything you like, just as long as it's some kind of fiction or historical reenactment. We'll talk about it more tomorrow and then you'll pare up in teams to write your very own radio show."

Cat raised her hands. "Can it be funny?"

"Yes, it can be a drama, a comedy, a western or as I suspect Jade would do, horror. You write and perform a skit or short show that lasts between 4 and 5 minutes and after recording it, they'll be played for the class. Ok….who will team up."

Surprisingly, Jade's was the first hand up. Though she had to force herself to do so. "I'd like to team up with Tori."

Across the room, Tori who weren't expecting that, especially after this morning, looked to the Goth with surprise. Once again she'd thought she'd taken a step back, only to see Jade take a step forward.

Turning to Tori, Sikowitz said. "Do you want to team up with Jade? You don't have too?"

"I'll do it."

 **Well they're teaming up. Hopefully this can lead to more.**


	11. No beast so fierce

**Disclaimer: The show Victorious, its characters and other associated copyrights are property of someone else and not me.**

 **Unfairly Judged.**

 **Chapter 11 – No beast so fierce.**

 **No one's POV.**

Quite surprised about Jade's sudden volunteering to work with her, the Latina looked over to Jade and got a nod in reply.

Moments later when the bell rang, Tori walked over to Jade and cautiously said. "You want to work with me?"

Jade quickly grunted in annoyance. "What are you deaf now? That's what I just said."

"I….I….I just wasn't sure…you know you and I we, aren't really….I mean…we're."

Not waiting for Tori to finish speaking, Jade gently pushed her out the door. "Bla Bla Bla, why don't you try and actually forming a complete thought, before you spout words like a crazy person. Vega, walk with me."

Tori nodded and walked on. "I chose you because as I see it, is the next step in things. I will tell you my feelings are still hurt and I'm sure yours are as well. But I think we've both made an honest effort and can try to work together. Note, this is not a date. We will keep this strictly business. Understand. I want to see if we can work together without someone ending up in a pool of blood and it won't be me."

Tori briefly frowned, but then realized this was a sign of Jade returning to a semblance of her former self. But the question was, how much her former self would she be.

"Ok. I'm fine with that."

"We're going a horror radio show. You also ok with that?"

"I kind a figured I didn't have a choice in the matter."

Jade suddenly closed her mouth and for a moment appeared to think. Finally, she half took a deep breath and began to speak. "Do you want to do something different? I'm willing to listen."

Appreciative of Jade offering to possibly do something different, Tori smiled. "No, we can do horror. It sounds kind of fun. Now days, it's mostly just torture porn, with one nameless teen after another being butchered by some unkilliable killer. I can imagine even you'd get tired of the same old stuff after a while. Am I right?"

Jade smirked in approval. "Actually, you are. I love horror and I love gore, but sometimes, the only imagination they use in how the victim gets slaughtered and it does get tiresome eventually, I dare even say boring sometimes. Especially if the killer is always the same. There's a scene in the 1990 movie, Exorcist III where the viewer sees the action at a nurse's station, from down a long hallway. It's a killing scene, yet you neither see the victim killed or so much as one drop of blood. But It remains one of the most effective and scary scenes in modern horror. That used some serious imagination and the scene itself uses the viewer's imagination to pull it off. That is something I'd like to do. You game."

"That sounds fun."

"Good. I've got a bunch of old horror radio shows on mp3. I'm going to send you a couple of the very good ones. Ones that you won't see the ending coming. Scary and creepy as hell."

"Which ones?"

"I'll send you three when I get home. Not sure yet, but they'll be good. How about you listen to them on your own, take some notes and we talk tomorrow about what we want to do."

Tori nodded enthusiastically. "I'll do it. You're such a great writer, I'm sure we could really come up with something good."

Pleased with the comment and Tori's willingness to do horror, Jade smiled. "Thank you."

The pair parted and the rest of the day went rather uneventfully. Though as it progressed, Jade began to think of the matter of respect. She wanted to be respected for her talents but finding out her actions far overshadowed them, really hurt. It all tied into Beck's telling her to occasionally show some humanity.

While things where progressing with Tori and her friends, Jade looking around, realized that most if not all the student body held her in very low regard. She saw looks of contempt and fear everywhere she went. At first she enjoyed being feared, but lately it seemed to have lost a bit of its luster.

It was a problem, but one she really didn't know how to approach. For the most part her persona she projected was in fact her, but she also wasn't the kind of person who wore their heart on their sleeve. Emotionally, Jade in some respects was a rather private person.

As the day ended, she found herself wrestling with the problem, when ahead of her she happened to see something fall out of the purse of a blonde haired freshman girl, in what she thought to be an ugly, lavender sweater, ahead of her. It appeared to be a small, notepad, with writing on it. The girl had tilted her purse in just the right way, and it fell out. But the girl didn't notice and kept going.

Normally, Jade would have laughed and just kept going, but this time, she stopped. Looking down, she pondered. "I've lost things, I hate losing things."

But still, Jade didn't really feel the need to be good. She felt no connection to that person.

Curious, she picked it up and looked at the pad, which appeared to have detailed instructions on how to take care of someone's dog; where the food was kept, how often they liked to go out, how often to give the dog it's medicine and how, etc. Jade concluded that the girl must have be taking care of someone's dog.

Suddenly Jade found herself remembering her childhood dog, Jason Voorhees. She loved Jason and Jason loved her, until he got sick and died. It was a sad memory and she found herself not wanting someone else to have a similar memory. It just didn't sit right.

"It's a small deed, but a deed none the less." Jade muttere,d as she found herself walking towards the girl.

"Hey blonde girl in the ugly lavender sweater."

Immediately, the girl stopped, turned and gave Jade a look that as a mixture of scorn and fear. "I didn't do anything to you."

Jade held out the notepad. "No you didn't, but you dropped this. It fell from your purse."

As if it was radioactive, the girl, carefully took the notepad and noticed it was no longer in her purse. "I'm dog sitting, for my neighbor….but you…why?"

Not getting quite the reaction she expected, Jade huffed. "The polite thing is, to say, thank you."

Looking rather surprised and confused, the girl muttered, "Thank you. I still don't understand. You don't do these things."

"You don't have understand, but if this helps, take a quote from Shakespeare. No beast so fierce but knows some touch of pity. Richard the III, Act1, scene 2."

Jade then walked off, leaving the confused girl to her own thoughts. It was a good act and though not something she wanted to do all the time, Jade concluded it made her less boring. It also made her unpredictable and gave her a satisfied feeling. That done, she started to think about what horror episodes to send Tori.

A couple hours later Tori, who was at home, doing her math, got a email from Jade.

"Vega. I've selected three horror radio shows to listen too and attached them to this email. They're all quite good and the best part the action takes place in your mind."

The three were.

1) Ghost Hunt – from the series "Suspense" 06/23/49

2) The Thing on the Fourble Board – From the series "Quiet Please" 8/09/48

3) "Lancerford House" – From the South African series – "Beyond Midnight" 1/24/69

Jade also included the world famous, "War of the Worlds" Broadcast from 1938 which actually managed to convince some people that the Earth was being invaded by Martians.

So eagerly, Tori lay in her bed, put her head phones on and began to listen to the old stories. She half expected them be ultra-corny or very amateurish, like something out of some bad 50's sci-fi program. But much to her surprise they quickly drew her in.

Ghost hunt was the granddaddy of all the found footage movies, that are popular today. Telling the story of a rather upbeat radio announcer who decides to spend the night in a haunted house and record everything he sees and does. He gets much more than he bargained for.

The thing on the Foruble board was a eerie tale of a oil worker who finds a creature from under the earth and the twist ending, caught Tori off guard.

The third was the story of man who rented a house with a rather ugly green vase on a table. God help anyone who dare disturb, that particular vase.

The fourth was just fun and Tori could easily imagine people believing these were real. But in each case, Tori was very entertained and actually scared in some parts. She found herself wanting more. She also liked them as she realized she could listen to the drama's while she was doing other things, such as chores.

By the time she arrived the next morning, she was full of ideas. As soon as she arrived, she walked straight up to Jade's locker.

"I loved the shows you sent me. They were very good, thank you."

"I'm glad, which was your favorite?"

"I liked the Lancerford house one. It was so, original. What did you listen too."

"A couple from the 30's series, The Witches Tale and one from a show called, "The Black Mass" That's from the 60's."

"I have an idea." Said Tori, excitedly.

Jade raised an eyebrow. "Do you. Shoot."

"In the vein of War of the Worlds and Ghost hunt, we do a show where a reporter is doing a story on some strange thing and what happens to said reporter. Sort of a, curiosity got the cat sort of deal."

Jade scrunched her face for a second, then brushed a strand of hair behind her ear. "I like that. I like that a lot. How about I think of a general plot and kind of hammer it out, tonight. Then if we finish we can record it tomorrow night."

Jade spent the rest of the day working out various plots that would fit into Tori's overall framework. By the end of the day, she came up with the idea of a top radio reporter, who after pissing his boss off, gets assigned to a flower show. Something the arrogant reporter regards as as beneath him. The reporter goes into the show and treats the people and flowers with contempt, but soon finds that one person's rather innocent looking flowers, don't like being insulted."

Jade ran the story past Tori at the end of the day and she liked it. So Jade arranged for Tori to come over that evening and work on the project. Tori arrived at the allotted time and despite some nervousness, got right to work. It wasn't a date and Tori wanted to prove that she could work well with Jade. She made a point to work very hard at that. She avoided all personal talk and was as Jade requested, strictly business. Jade who was also nervous, was also just business, but did try to be a good host and offered Tori something to drink. There was still a considerable level of discomfort between them but each knew that things took time.

So they sat in Jade's room for nearly two hours discussing and sometimes bickering about the script as they worked it out. But each felt that they managed to work well and they had a rough draft finished.

The next night, Tori came over again and while both were just business, they again felt that despite their differences and Jade's occasional insult, they managed to work well together.

On the third night, which was a Saturday, they gathered what sound effects they needed and recorded it at Tori's house. As she had a much better recording system for her music. Jade was a bit apprehensive about Tori's family, but as assured, no one else would be home.

It took just over an hour and a half to record the 4 minute and 50 second radio play. The sound effects didn't work right at first and each of them blew a few takes, but each felt that real progress had been made, not to mention they grew much more comfortable with each other.

When all was said and done, Jade thanked Tori for being so professional and went home. All that needed to be done was for Tori to do some last minute editing and email it to Sikowitz. Tori did that Sunday night.

Things had gone smoothly and both Tori and Jade felt good about how things had gone.

Monday morning, the gathered in Sikowitz's class and both girls were eager to hear the reaction to their play.

"Children." Announced Sikowitz. "Today we will hear your plays, but one small snag. I have all your radio plays, with the exception of Jade and Tori's."

Jade quickly glared at Tori. "What gives? You were supposed to send that last night."

Tori was dumbfounded and quickly went to check her email. Before she could, Sikowitz with an innocent expression put a hand on Tori's shoulder. "That nice gif of two hand's holding each other, along with the nice poem. You emailed last night. It was very touching. But that still won't get you out of having to turn in your assignment."

There are times in one's life when a person realizes that not only have they messed up, but messed up so badly, that they literally want to, die on the spot. Today was one of those days. Tori had made that gif along with quasi romantic poem to send to Jade when they actually went on their first date. Now Tori, to her utter horror, realized that she had sent Sikowitz the wrong file.

Turning Beet red and slinking down in her chair, in utter humiliation, Tori did her best to not notice the laughter from the rest of the class, nor the rather hostile glare of Jade aimed squarely at her head.

"Now Children, Don't laugh at Tori. It was actually a rather beautiful and poem that showed lots of talent." He then pulled out his phone. "Please let me read it…"

"NOOO!" Tori shrieked as she shot up out of her chair.

Looking disappointed, Sikowitz, turned to Tori. "I can…."

Tori wanted to die and the worst part was that she was sure Jade would make that happen in a very short amount of time. But stills she needed to stop the humiliation.

"I…meant it sort of privately….from a student to his honored mentor….and don't you have to play the other presentations…..I just forgot to send mine. I was so involved in the poem I…kind of forgot. I'll ….I'll send it now." Croaked the Latina, as she pulled out her phone and then sent the correct one.

Sikowitz nodded. "Good point. "Now onto the show….."

Between the humiliation, the snickering, and Rex quietly singing, "Tori and Sikowitz, sitting in a tree…" the rest of the class was pretty much the longest in her life. She barely listened to any of the presentations, as she was to mortified to do much else than stare at the chalkboard.

As soon as the bell rang, Tori grabbed her stuff in an attempt to flee the classroom, but Jade quickly grabbed her arm.

"Miss Vega." Said the Goth, in sickingly sweet tone of voice. "May I have a word with you?"

"I don't have a choice, don't I?"

Ignoring the question, Jade escorted Tori out of the room and towards her locker.

"Look Jade. I'm sorry….I messed up….that wasn't meant for you...I mean him….it was meant for you….but not now…please don't kill me."

Jade however didn't say a word and when they arrived at Jade's locker a few seconds later, the Goth unexpectedly said. "Why should I kill you?"

Tori cringed. "Because I messed up."

"Yes you messed up. Yes you sent the wrong file. But, just a few short months ago, I was utterly humiliated and now you're humiliated. So actually, I feel slightly vindicated as now they'll be talking about you and not me….at least until someone else royally fucks up. Then you'll be off the hook. But for now, I'm off the hook. I was just messing with you. Just calm down, relax. The world hasn't ended. I like you, remember. People make mistakes and I can see you made one."

"I'm not dead." Stammered Tori.

Opening her locker, Jade rummaged around for something. "You don't look dead. Calm down. You may have been too humiliated to notice, but the class was utterly gripped when he played our play. We got an A. "

"I…I…didn't notice…."

"You see, you didn't do it intentionally, but you helped even us out. Not to mention you worked very hard at trying to be professional and work well with me….Ah…here it is."

Jade then pulled out a large, expensive looking and brand new leather bag and handed it to Tori. "I ruined your previous bag. In honor of you working with me so well and the fact that I ruined your previous bag. Here is a replacement."

Still half in shock, Tori looked at the bag, only to realize it was a designer bag, not to mention she absolutely loved it.

"I only paid 19 dollars for my old bag….this one is really expensive."

"Vega, did you happen to notice my house is really big and full of antiques and other expensive things."

"Kind of."

"My family's loaded. That bag not only replaces the one I ruined, but hopefully will make up for the rest of the stuff I did. Plus it may help you get over your utter humiliation, which I will admit I do find funny. I hope you like it, the bag that is. I'm in a good mood and think I'm going to go out on a limb here and please don't make me regret this….but Tori will you go out with me tomorrow night."

Tori, who wanted to die just a few minutes earlier, grinned like a fool. "Yes."

 **The radio shows listed in this episode are all real and in my opinion, all very good. Give them a listen.**

 **The hallway scene that Jade describes is from the 1990 movie, Exorcist III If you want to see it, go to youtube and do a search for. "Exorcist III nurses station" It's a great example of a ultra-scary scene that does not show one single drop of blood.**

 **Thanks to Nikita aka cocotigressx for the idea. Hope things work out. Just remember, things will be alright.**


	12. No Exit

**Disclaimer: The show Victorious, its characters and other associated copyrights are property of someone else and not me.**

 **Unfairly Judged.**

 **Chapter 12 – No Exit.**

 **Tori's POV.**

I had gotten a second chance and quite eager to make good impression, asked, "Could I plan it."

Jade looked to the side for a moment then back to me. "What did you have in mind?"

"A picnic."

"A picnic." Jade replied, with a hint of skepticism in her voice.

"I know maybe a picnic isn't your sort of thing, but I like picnics and you like cemeteries so we have one there. I think the Hollywood Forever Cemetery is pretty well lit at night; at least until close. We could have one by Johnny Ramone's grave. I know you love the Ramones. I remember reading his is there."

Much to my relief, Jade nodded approvingly. "So is Dee Dee Ramone, the bassist. I like the idea."

"Great. How about I pick you up at 6:30 tomorrow night."

For a split second, Jade gave me a rather dubious look. "Done. I'll be sure to actually be there when you arrive. Unlike some people."

"You just had to say that didn't you." I challenged back.

Jade shrugged. "I wouldn't be Jade if I didn't say things like that. Later…."

As I watched Jade slowly vanish into the crowed of students, I couldn't help but feel giddy. So much so, I almost forgot about my recent humiliation in Sikowitz's class.

Walking to my next class and seeing various people giggling at me, I was reminded of my unfortunate email. But I put my mind on the picnic and 10 minutes into the next class, I realized that I didn't know what kind of picnic food Jade liked. I had a brief moment of panic as I'd die if I brought food Jade hated, but remembered that Beck was my class right before lunch.

So I caught Beck right before that class and after telling him of our date, asked what kind of picnic type food she likes.

First he congratulated me on getting another date and told me to relax and have fun. Then he told me Jade usually like Swiss cheese and ham on rye bread, but only a special type of ham you can buy at one of the high end grocery stores. He also told me the names of some other things she'd like.

The rest of the day, was very long as by noon, the story of my errant email had made the rounds and I was pretty much a laughing stock. Jade seemed amused by it all, but didn't rub it in much.

After school, I eagerly drove to one of the high end grocery stores and did all the shopping I needed. When I got home, I dug the picnic basket out of the basement and did some preliminary preparation. I took time to make sure everything was perfect. I was excited and very hopeful and nervous.

I was still excited, hopeful the next morning, at least until I saw the greyish looking clouds on the horizon as I drove to school. So as to not jinx myself, I pretended the clouds weren't there and would not be there tonight for our first date. The sight of the clouds greatly heightened my anxiety.

I saw Jade in the morning though she was her normal, cool and somewhat insulting self, I found myself wondering if she was as nervous as me or excited. She's hard to read sometimes.

However by 12 o'clock the grey clouds were over the school and just as we were finishing lunch I felt the first drop of rain hit my forehead.

As we got up from the table Jade patted me on the back. "Maybe it will stop. Don't worry."

It didn't stop and by 2 O'clock it was raining, by 3 O'clock it was pouring and by the end of the final period of the day, the first flash flood warnings were going out over the radio.

My plans had been washed away and my feeling of excitement had now been replaced by frustration and even anger. I found Jade by her locker at the end of the day to discuss other plans.

"Jade, I'm sorry but it looks like we can't have our picnic."

Not looking upset or even bothered by the weather, Jade looked to the rain running down the window and back to me. "No big deal. How about we just eat out. We can have Chinese that's not Nozu. Who knows, it might actually be good. We can go to the Peking Garden's on Olympic."

For some reason Jade 's nonchalant attitude, irked me. I wanted this to go perfect and Jade's all like, oh no big deal. Maybe I just feel that way, I'm pissed off cause of the freaking rain. This date is a big deal to me. But Jade is Jade and plan b is better than no plan at all.

"That's fine. I heard the place is good."

"Good. Just pick me up at the same time, 6:30." Jade then smirked. "Don't forget to wear your rubbers."

"What?" I briefly fumed. "Since when would I wear a rubber and are you really expecting to….

Jade cut me out with a laugh and pointed to my feet. "Your galoshes. It's practically a monsoon out here. Lot's of puddles you know! God, you're dim sometimes. See ya."

Still laughing, Jade slammed her locker shut grabbed her bag and walked off. Me, I grumbled, got my stuff and ran out to my car; both getting wet and cursing the sky gods at the same time.

I got home, quickly did my homework and then at 5:30 started to get ready in the bathroom. Still irritated by the ruin of my plans and Jade's rather nonchalant attitude, my mood quickly turned downright sour when a certain ex-sister poked her head in.

"Tori?"

Other than a frown, I ignored her and kept working on my makeup.

Normally Trina went away when ignored her but today she persisted.

"What's your beef. I've tried to apologize a hundred times and not once have you ever even acknowledged the fact that I'm trying here. Please Tori I'm sorry for…."

"GET OUT AND LEAVE ME ALONE YOU FUCKING TRAITOR!" I screamed.

"I am not a traitor, I'm your sister. I was trying to help you." My sister screamed back.

"Like Fredo in the godfather."

"This isn't a movie Tori. This is us. What you going to have me killed? It''d be nice if you could be serious about this."

"Just leave me the fuck alone, permanently."

My sister and I wound up shouting at each other for almost 5 minutes, when my mother who was outside and finally heard the fight, she came storming in the house and went straight upstairs.

"Tori, Trina, what on earth is going on?"

"I tried to apologize again and Tori won't even listen." Barked Trina

"She won't leave me alone, I don't want to her shit!"

My mother immediately glared at me. "I've had quite enough of this cold war between you and your sister. She's tried to apologize time and again and all you've been doing is acting like a spoiled child."

"I knew you'd take her side!"

"I'm not taking anyone's side, I'm just tired of your attitude. Trina was wrong and I yelled at her and if you didn't notice, ground her for a week. But that wasn't enough for you."

My mother then proceeded to chew me out for being unreasonable and in general being a bitch about it. She made me apologize to Trina, but at that point I really didn't care. I said the words I needed to say and they let me go. Though my mom said we'd be discussing this more later.

So by the time, I left for Jade's I was so uptight, upset and angry it wasn't funny. I just need to push past this and have a good time, if I can.

 **No One's Pov**

Tori rang the bell at Jade's house exactly at 6:30. At the moment she was just glad to be standing under an overhang, but still wanted to get out of the rain.

Jade had decided to dress nice, a simple black dress, with an odd paring of rain galoshes instead.

Opening the door, Jade smiled but noted that Tori looked just a bit tense. Initially she dismissed it as nerves, as she was just a bit nervous herself. To cover her own nervousness, Jade quipped acidly.

"Nice of you to actually show up. I guess I owe Cat $20 dollars."

Tori's displeasure at the remark was instant and obvious, by fact that she seemed to tense up even more. "Did you really think I wouldn't show up? I thought we were past that."

Jade, surprised by Tori's reaction, quickly shook her head. "Kidding Vega, Sorry. Let's gets going, I'm hungry."

The pair ran out to the car, through the rain and quickly were off in the direction of the restaurant. Jade made attempts to make small talk, to cover her own nerves, but found the Latina oddly untalkative and rather tense.

At least for Jade, things seemed to get just a bit awkward. Arriving at the restaurant, Tori started to talk a little, but mostly it was just comments about the Chinese restaurant and its interior.

No sooner as they sat down, Jade asked. "Vega, you're not still upset about the picnic. I did like the idea and we can do it another time."

"No. I'm not upset about that."

But the edge to Tori's voice, told Jade maybe it was just a bit more than nerves.

"Are you ok Vega? Is something wrong?"

"No, I'm fine. It's just been a long day."

As if the downpour outside hadn't made things bad enough, the rest of the date was slowly shaping up to be less than perfect, actually much less than perfect. It started well enough, the restaurant was nice, the food was acceptable but nothing seemed to quite fit. Tori was sullen and preoccupied, while Jade was nervous and took refuge in familiarity. Which was unfortunate. The conversation started to drag and a feeling of unease, started to pervade the date.

Jade wanted the date to go well and didn't like that Tori wasn't herself. That chemistry that always seem to be there between them, that Jade liked so much was simply gone. So Jade decided to try and lighten the mood.

Just after their meal arrived, in the middle of a conversation about Sikowitz's class, Tori said.

"Jade, Could you pass me the salt?"

"No problem" "Jade then slid the shaker across the table.

"Thanks." Tori glanced up, and there was something about the wide-eyed look of innocence on Jade's face and the way she was biting her lips that made her pause. She kept her gaze on the other girl, eyes narrowed suspiciously, and held the salt upright, giving it an experimental shake.

The silver lid of the salt shaker came off, rolling halfway across the table before it finally came to a stop. Tori's jaw quickly hardened as her gaze turned into full-blown glare. "Seriously Jade, what are you twelve."

Jade was practically sucking her face inside out in an attempt not to laugh, but her humor faded in the cold light of Tori's expression. "Sorry."

"You think that's funny?"

"Hey, I was just trying to lighten the mood," she said, sulkily. "You know, break the ice."

"By ruining my dinner?"

Jade shrugged in embarrassment, but said nothing. Tori returned her attention to her food.

After a few seconds, Jade spoke again, "Why, ah'm sorry, little lady," the voice was a gruff southern drawl that sounded like a cross between Foghorn Leghorn and Strother Martin in Cool Hand Luke, "Please accept mah humble apologies." Tori looked up to see Jade with a large king prawn draped across her upper lip as a moustache. "Ah meant no offence, y'all."

Tori dropped her fork with a clatter and stared at the other girl, who let the prawn slide sadly from her lip to land with a splat on the plate. "What is wrong with you?"

Jade's shoulders sagged. "Come on, Tori, I'm just trying to have a bit of fun."

"We're supposed to be on a date," Tori said, angrily. "You're supposed to be on your best behavior, trying to impress me. Not goofing around with food on your face."

Jade sighed, wearily. "Fine," she said. "Sorry."

"Is this what you usually do on dates?"

"I don't know," Jade confessed. "I haven't been on many. Most of the time I had Beck, and now I've got you."

"You haven't got me yet," Tori snapped, seemingly taking great offence at the remark. "I'm going to the bathroom."

Tori got up, ignoring the crestfallen look on Jade's face, and stalked off.

For almost a minute, Tori stood in the bathroom, just staring in the mirror. A few weeks ago she would have loved this. Loved to sit in a restaurant and swap banter with Jade, free from the animosity of school. But tonight she couldn't think of anything but Trina, and Jade's relentless cheeriness and immaturity only grated on her nerves. Maybe she was being too hard on her, and she wondered if somehow she was blaming Jade for what happened.

Hey," she said, as she returned. Jade was sat with her head propped up on her hands.

"I didn't touch anything," she said, dourly, as Tori sat down.

"I know, look... I'm sorry. I've got a lot on my mind."

"It's okay." Jade brightened, slightly. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"...No. It's fine."

"Oh."

They fell into an awkward silence. Jade fidgeted uncomfortably, searching for something to say. "Your... poem was very good?" she offered, tentatively.

Tori colored. "Don't," she said.

"Don't what? It was! If it was about me, that is," Jade said. "If it was about someone else then it was-"

"It was terrible," Tori said, irritably. "I felt like a 12-year-old. I don't want to talk about it."

Initally Jade was nervous, very nervous in fact, but being shut down for the same time, had sapped the last of her patience.

"Looks like the ice in this particular part of the ocean is a bit thicker than I thought." Jade quipped darkly.

Tori's only response was a brief look between bites of her sweet and sour pork.

Shut down, Jade gave up, and the rest of the disastrous date passed in desultory small talk and overlong silences, until it was a relief on both sides when the clock finally said it was late enough to go home.

As soon as the check was brought out, Jade quickly grabbed it and without even looking at the bill, handed the bill back with her credit card.

"I got this Tori."

"Fine." Said Tori as she looked down at her unopened fortune cookie.

Once Jade paid the check she looked to Tori. "You want to do something else?" It was a pointless question, considering what had happened, but Jade somehow felt obligated to ask it.

Tori looked up briefly shook her head. "No, I'm starting to get a headache. I think we should call it a night. In reality, Tori didn't have a headache, she just found herself saying it to have an excuse to end the evening before it got any worse.

As to add insult to injury, on her way out of the restaurant, Tori stepped right into a deep puddle and got both of her new shoes wet.

Jade, not caring anymore, went into full gank mode. "I told you to wear your galoshes, didn't you. Couldn't listen, couldn't you." Jade then merrily pointed to the black galoshes she was wearing. "I wore mine."

"Can it Jade!" Hissed Tori.

The ride home was quiet, other than crack by Jade about how the skunk smell was almost gone. That only further irritated, Tori which by this point was exactly what Jade wanted to do. With both girls, angry ,depressed and frustrated., the date had done horribly and they were both painfully aware of it.

Jade wasn't sure if Tori wanted to be with her at all and Tori thought pretty much the same thing about Jade. It was also a matter of chemistry and since it was lacking, they both wondered if they ever really had any in the first place.

As they neared her house, Jade in despair, found herself thinking of a quote from the play, "No Exit" by Jean-Paul Sartre. "Hell is other people"

Just after 8:30, Tori pulled up into Jade's driveway and without looking at the Goth said in a low voice, "Thank you."

Jade mumbled "You're welcome". Then without another word, got out of the car.

Oddly, as Tori drove off and Jade walked inside her home, each thought the exact same thing. It was the fact that, neither had told the other how nice they looked.

But it was too late for that.

 **I'll bet you were expecting instant Jori, with lots of cute closeness and declarations of love. I'm not saying that won't happen, it just won't happen in this chapter. Sorry, but this date was pretty much a total disaster.**

 **We've all had bad dates. Ones where the chemistry simply wasn't there or one factor or another ruins it. Can they push past this? More story to come…**

 **Many thanks to SevReed for their help with this chapter.**

 **The play "No exit" is an existentialist play about 3 people in hell who find themselves trapped in a rather comfortable room There are no torture devices present, but the torture is having put up with each other for eternity. Thus the quote, "Hell is other people" There's to the meaning of the quote than that, but for this chapter, that's all you need to know.**


	13. Post Mortem

**Disclaimer: The show Victorious, its characters and other associated copyrights are property of someone else and not me.**

 **Unfairly Judged.**

 **Chapter 13 – Post Mortem**

 **No One's POV.**

As she drove home from the date, Tori quickly fell into despair. After all this work, reestablishing their friendship, the date had been a total disaster. At first she started to think it over, but found the memory too painful and fresh so she pushed it out of her mind. Instead concentrating on the feelings, instead of what was the ultimate cause.

When she got home, she could count at least one small blessing; that no one was home. The bad date was humiliation enough, having to face Trina or her parents would make it even worse.

So Tori retired to her room, turned off the lights, lay in bed and listened to the rain.

The next morning Tori felt no better, in fact she felt worse. In her mind she had lingering worries of this triggering another round of retaliation. Then she had feelings of guilt for thinking so less of Jade, especially after what they've gone through. Those two feelings combined with the additional feelings of depression, left the normally perky Latina with an almost toxic mix of emotions. It made her stomach hurt.

Entering school she quickly spotted Jade at her locker, a cup of coffee in hand and very sour look in her face. It said in very uncertain terms; leave me alone.

Tori quickly turned away, and walked to her locker and once there, looked back to Jade's locker to see she was gone.

Just as she grabbed her books, she turned to see Beck round the corner. Unlike Jade he had a rather eager look.

"Hey Tori, how'd the date go?"

Grimacing slightly, Tori shook her head. "Remember in history class, last week where they talked about Pompeii and how when the volcano erupted, the people had to flee."

Looking slightly puzzled, Beck nodded. "Uh…yeah."

"They had more fun than we did."

"I'm so sorry. What happened?"

"You're being a friend and I appreciate that, but I really don't want to talk about it. Other than to say, I totally blew it. I doubt I'll get another chance."

Putting a reassuring hand on Tori's shoulder, Beck said. "Have faith."

"In what? God?"

"No, Jade. Remember what you've learned about her. There's a lot more to her, than meets the eye. I'll see you in class. In the meantime, just try to relax."

Despite, Beck's reassuring words, Tori was certain she blew her chance. Plus she continued to feel bad about half expecting some sort of retaliation. Though in the first half of the day, nothing happened, it was a normal day. She saw Jade a few times, but the Goth despite looking to be in a horrible mood, stayed quiet. Tori also noticed that Jade seemed to be avoiding her. That only convinced her that she had blown her chance and furthered her despair.

She wanted to say something, but just didn't know what or if she should.

Lunchtime came and instead of joining her friends, she returned to her former spot on the steps.

However no sooner as she had sat down, Jade came and without saying a word sat next to her.

Finding herself paralyzed with fear and indecision, Tori just looked straight ahead and started to eat her lunch. Jade looked ahead and did the same.

After eating the first few bites of her sandwich, Tori thought it over and came to the conclusion that even if she stood no chance for a second date, the proper thing would be to apologize.

"Jade, I'm sorry."

"For what?'

"Everything."

"That's rather vague Vega. That could mean anything from the date last night to the John F Kennedy's assassination."

Tori nodded. "Well, I ruined the date, it's all my fault and then this morning worried that you'd do something. I feel bad for that too. To be honest, I'm a bit surprised you're here. You looked like you didn't want to talk to me. Why are you here?"

For the first time, Jade looked to Tori. "To apologize. I didn't want to talk to you cause I was angry and needed a few hours to work some of it out of my system. This is important. I didn't want to do or say something I'd regret. ."

"Like going out with me." Lamented Tori.

Jade seemed to grow angry again. "You know what, you frustrate the shit out of me. Of all the people, you endlessly and continuously bug me. First of all, I don't regret dating you. Stop that. I told you before, I like you. I regret the date itself, as it was a total disaster, yes, but not you. But before we get to that, I was a bit gankier than I should have. So part of the disaster was my doing. For that I'm sorry. Oh and by the way, stop feeling sorry for yourself, it's annoying."

Tori flushed with embarrassment. "Oh…apology accepted. I thought it was all my fault."

"Vega, stop being a bonehead. We both screwed up. What happened? Come on; let's do a post mortem on this thing. Figure out and talk about what each of us did wrong."

Tori, feeling somewhat relieved, raised an eyebrow. "You want to autopsy our date?"

"Yes, normally two people have a bad date they write each other off and go their separate way. But I'm not a normal person…."

Before, Tori could even think of making a smart remark, Jade pointed a finger at Tori. "Don't even say it."

"I didn't say anything."

"No but you thought it. So tell me, what the fuck happened. I know you were disappointed the picnic thing got wrecked, but you showed up looking kind of pissed off."

Tori looked down and not wanting to answer the question, started to take a bite of her sandwich, only to have it torn out of her hands by Jade, who then tossed it onto the street. There after about 3 seconds, the sandwich was run over by a passing Mercedes.

"Hey, that was my sandwich!"

"So what, answer the question. We're analyzing our date. Spill it Vega!"

Tori sighed. "I was already very disappointed by the ruin of my plans. Perhaps I wanted things to be so perfect, I put too much pressure on myself. So I was very frustrated already. Than I had a huge fight with my sister when I was getting ready. My mom heard the fight and yelled at me. So by the time I left, I was really pissed off."

"So I sense something is wrong and you don't bother to tell me. When I tried to lighten things up you start to snap at me. But I didn't help either. You know what my greatest sin was?"

"What?"

"I gave up on the date. Yes, I gave, up, I could have pressed you as to what was bugging you. Because you weren't you. You were this sullen, angry person, whom I didn't like. But instead of caring and pushing through that persona to get at the root of the problem. I started to be a gank and gave up. I said some things, that I knew would irritate you. You disappointed me and I retaliated by starting to piss you off even more. It's something I do sometimes actually, a lot of the time. I am sorry Tori. I shouldn't have done that. But this thing with Trina. Look she's a total gank and personally I hate her. But she's your sister and you need to settle this."

"But she stabbed me in the back!"

"Tori this isn't you. You're not the type to hold a grudge. Yes, she lied and yes she manipulated things to keep us apart. But let's face it, this is me…we're talking about, not Rebecca of Sunnybrook farm. She was doing it to protect you, a bit overzealously, but it's what she was doing. I can be a pretty nasty person at times, if she didn't view me with suspicion, I'd think I was doing something wrong?"

Tori sighed. "It hurt."

"I'm sure it did. I'll tell you a story. I don't get along with my mom, the reasons aren't all that important, but I know my mother. I know what makes her tick. When my mom was 10 years old, her 7 year old sister, Amy ran into the street and was hit by a car. She was killed instantly. It was just a terrible accident. Now they hadn't fought like you two had, but I do know that it left a hole in her life. I know it bothers her to this day and she doesn't like to talk about it. Amy's gone and there is not one thing my mother can do about it. It changed her, it haunts her. Her older brother named is own daughter Amy, but still that fill the void. What I'm saying is that, you're better off making peace. She didn't do it to hurt you, even I can see that. If you let this fester, it will do you no good; it's affecting you already. Plus one day, that chance to fix it will be gone."

"I don't even know what to say or do?"

"Just talk. Start with Hello. Besides, what's better, cutting them off completely or getting even? I could have helped you there."

Tori thought over Jade's words and realized she was right. "You're right. I didn't know you could be so understanding, so philosophical."

"I'll bet you thought, I'd write you off didn't you. You're still wondering why, I'm here?"

"Yes."

"I'm not giving up on this. I still believe that we, two women who are radically different, could have something. Call me a fool or just plain nuts, but I still believe that. I also believe you're special. Besides, someday, I will royally piss you off and believe me, it will happen. Remember there is a new me, but the old me which is still around, is a mega bitch. Perhaps me showing some understanding will help me on that particular day. It's also the right thing to do. Yes our date ended in disaster, you were angry, I was ganky and after a while didn't care, who knows, perhaps the next one will only be a disaster as opposed to be a total disaster. We may even have a good one someday. Providing we don't kill each other first, which is a distinct possibility. You're going to have to put up with me and my mood's…let's say. But I promise I won't give up on the date or you so easily. I feel bad I did. I can only hope you think I'm worth it. I'm afraid you won't sometimes, I'll admit it. But I think you are."

For the first time, all day Tori chuckled. "We're really bad at this, aren't we?"

"Yeah."

For a few seconds, the girls sat in silence as they watched the passing cars.

Jade looked at her sandwich and threw it so it landed right next to Tori's on the road. "Vega, You wanna go grab a burger or something?"

"Is this a date?" Remarked Tori with a look of slight surprise.

"Hell No. You start to clear the air with Trina first then will talk about dates. I want happy, perky annoying Tori Vega not the sullen angry one."

Tori smirked, "You didn't like the sullen, angry one…even a bit."

Jade looked up and thought for a moment. "Well, she may be fun in the sack, but in public, no way. I'm the angry one here."

Tori pretended to look offended for a moment then laughed. "I can only imagine who much a disaster that would end up being. We'd probably bang heads or something, knock each other out."

Jade smirked back, "We'll then we'll have to do a post mortem on our first time…..But in the meantime, let's go get some food. No date, no pressure."

Tori got up. "Ok, sounds good."

 **Author's note, due to the Holiday season, my output may slow a bit. But don't worry, just enjoy your holiday season and I'll be back. If I can get out a chapter, I will.**

 **Thanks again to SevReed**


	14. Stay

**Disclaimer: The show Victorious, its characters and other associated copyrights are property of someone else and not me.**

 **Unfairly Judged.**

 **Chapter 14 – Stay**

 **Tori's POV**

There was a small burger stand about two blocks away from Hollywood arts. It was little more than a shack with a few picnic tables outside, but the food was always good. We walked down there and talked along the way, but Jade stuck to topics of school and other safe things.

We had our discussion, we had autopsied our date and at least for the moment there was nothing of importance to be said. But sometimes, just being with a person is more than enough. So much as gone wrong between us up to now.

Just being able to walk down the street with Jade, is a nice thing.

We got burgers, fries and sodas and sat down at one of the picnic tables. We talked more and there wasn't much to tell. I however was preoccupied with my sister and how to settle it. I couldn't' go out with Jade until it was settled.

I should want to settle it simply for the sake of settling it, not merely because, Jade will go out with me. I do miss my sister, but I'm still bitter about it. Jade is right, this is not healthy.

I think Jade sensed what was going on in my mind and let me be. As I said she was mostly quiet with occasional, meaningless small talk.

However, at the end of lunch as we arrived back at school, Jade said out of the blue. "I know it hurts what she did and at the moment you're having a very hard time forgiving her. But what you did hurt me and I'll admit still hurts. It's not easy for me to be here, to want to keep trying. I can hold a grudge, believe me, but I'm starting to see that sometimes it just isn't worth it. Plus you forgave me for what I did, so I know you're capable of it. You'll hate yourself you don't at least try."

I nodded, with a nervous bite of my lip. "Thanks."

Jade nodded and turned to walk away. "Later Vega."

I found myself thinking about it, for the rest of the day, balancing my hurt feelings with the realization that Trina was trying to help. But as they saying goes, the road to hell is paved with good intentions. Oddly I didn't see my sister all afternoon; I think she's avoiding me.

Arriving at home, I found myself very nervous. Once I entered and closed the door behind me, I turned to see my sister on the couch. She was eating from a bag of potato chips and watching one of the Kardashian reality shows. She paid no attention to me, what so ever. But on the other hand she was quiet and looked somewhat morose. Normally she continually comments on what's going on in the show, regardless of who is or is not around.

She's bothered, but how in and in what fashion? I simply didn't know what I should do or what I even wanted to say. My feelings were so conflicted, I mean this is my sister, the only one I have, I'm still mad at her no question, but do I really want to be mad at her for the rest of my life? Jade's right, this grudge is not doing anything for me.

Out of habit I walked to the stairs to go up to my room, it was so easy to simply walk by her. Too easy, to let it sit unresolved. Far to easy.

But on the 3rd step, I forced myself to stop.

"Trina?" I said, without looking back.

For a full 10 seconds there was no reply. Finally she replied but in a cautious and distant voice. "What?"

"I didn't let you apologize. I know you meant well, but what you did really hurt. But still that should not have stopped me from letting you make amends. I'm sorry."

It was harder than hell getting those words out, not to mention it felt horribly awkward.

"I was just trying to protect you. You know, I don't like Jade. Why should I?"

Only then did I turn to look at Trina. Her face was serious. It was an expression that I rarely saw on her face.

"I made the mistake. I stood her up."

Standing up, Trina stood her ground. "Yes, but that doesn't give her any excuse to put that skunk in your car or ruin your laptop or any of the other things she did. The normal thing to do is simply call the person an asshole and move on to someone else. Not declare war on you and that's what she did."

I couldn't back down, nor could I simply scream, I had to talk this out. "Nor did that give you an excuse to lie to both Jade and I. Just the fact that you kept her away from me without telling me, says that you don't trust my judgment. Is that it? Am I that incompetent?"

"You all but admitted your own judgment was faulty, when you said you misinterpreted Jade's, intentions, and blew her off."

"You should talk Trina. Jade has made amends for what she's done."

"It still doesn't make it right, what Jade did."

Trina stood there for a moment, her face briefly hardening, before appearing to relent. "Look Tori. We don't get along a lot of the time, but I did go about it the wrong way. I was wrong to lie to you, I was wrong to lie to Jade. I'm sorry. But I don't like you going out with her. It's not because she's a girl, it's because she's a horrible girl. I'm not going to back down from that. Just….just be careful."

The front door suddenly opened and in walked our mother. Almost immediately, she said. "You two fighting again?"

It was Trina that shook her head. "No, were talking it out. Tori apologized for how letting me apologize. And I apologized for lying to her and Jade."

My mother quickly breathed a sigh of relief. "So this cold war is finally over?"

"I hope so." I said as I looked to Trina.

Trina agreed. "Yes, but I still don't like Jade. I'm not sure if Tori is making the right choice in seeing her."

My mother quickly answered. "I know that and while I have my own reservations; Tori is a big girl. It may work out, it may not, there's no guarantee about such things. Hearts will be broken, that's the way the universe works. Mine has, your father has his heart broken at various points in our lives and we both learned from that. If there is a lesson to be learned, than she'll learn it, If it works out, I'll be glad to admit that my first impressions were wrong."

She then turned to me, looking a bit stern. "Jade did some nasty things and your father and I are still not pleased. But she does appear to have started to make amends. So we will not stand in the way. But if things go south and anything else happens, something that could constitute a violation of the law, you father will not stand by. I shouldn't need to remind you he's a police officer. You may trust Jade and that's fine. But she has yet to earn our trust. Your father and I will be watching. Am I being clear?

I want to trust Jade and I want her to trust me. But my parents don't and if Jade does do anything, my dad will, drop the hammer on her, so to speak. Not exactly a good foundation for any relationship. I don't like it, but after all that happened, I can't really blame them either.

"Yes mother."

"You heard her…" Snapped Trina, looking just a bit smug.

My mother however, quickly scolded her. "Trina, that's enough; you've made your point and so have I. If you have something to say to your sister, some concern or comment, be open about it. Lying to Jade and your sister only made the situation worse."

Looking humbled, Trina apologized. "Sorry."

"Good, I'm going to start dinner, you can both help me. Come on let's move."

So we had sort of worked things out. I can't say completely and my feelings are still hurt, I could tell she was still bothered. We were talking, but the conversations we had while making dinner were still awkward and halting.

Bad feelings aren't banished very easily.

Now however I had a new worry, what do I tell Jade about my parents watching. Should I tell her at all. Would it scare her away?

I was still thinking and very preoccupied about that the next morning when Jade, snuck up on me, while I was at my locker.

"BOO!"

After screaming and losing a year or two off my life, I punched her in the shoulder. "You scared the chiz out of me."

"I was hoping to scare the crap out of you, so I'll just have to try harder next time." Quippted the Goth as she played with the single streak of pink hair that ran off her beautiful head.

"I talked to my sister last night."

Jade pursed her lips. "My condolences, usually after about 30 seconds of talking to her I get the strong urge to slit my wrists. Don't know how you do it."

Jade isn't being very helpful today. "Jade, I'm being serious. You wanted me to talk to talk to her."

"That is true. Did you come to some conclusion?"

"We both apologized for our actions. But she still doesn't like you dating me."

Jade smirked. "Cause she wants Jade for herself, I'll bet she likes to call out my name when she's playing with hers…."

"Serious Jade, you're not helping." I said, while slamming my locker shut for effect.

Rolling her eyes, Jade seemed to get serious. "Fine, but you need to relax, get laid…and I happen to know just the right girl. She has black hair, green eyes…

"Forget it." I huffed, as I turned and walked off.

She grabbed my arm but I just pulled it free and kept going.

She quickly caught up to me and apologized. "Tori, I'm sorry. I'm just a bit more a gank than normal today. Please, I'd like to hear about what happened."

I stopped and for a moment scowled. "Are you going to listen?"

"Yes."

"I'm nervous enough Jade. I had something to tell you and you're not helping."

"What?"

"There are still bad feelings and those won't go away easily, but we're talking. She still doesn't like me dating you and she's open about it. She doesn't like you."

"I get that. Is that what you wanted to tell me?"

"No."

"Then what?"

"My parents still aren't happy about what happened. They don't trust you either, at least yet. Their not standing in my way, however. But she hinted…no basically said that if things go south and those things start to happen again, illegal things, particularly, my father in his capacity as a police officer will do something."

I had said it and I think my voice was shaking while I said it. Jade's reaction wasn't immediate. She appeared to think about it for a moment with a puzzled expression.

"Vega."

"Yes Jade."

"Do you trust me?"

I'll admit I hesitated before I answered. Realizing my hesitation had to a point given me away, I decided to keep being honest.

"I want to trust you. I'm sorry. But like with my sister, bad feelings don't go away, that easily."

I half expected her to walk off, get mad or do something. Instead she nodded, not looking angry at all.

"Fair enough."

It was then I thought to ask. "Do you trust me?"

Her answer surprised me. But the look in her eyes, told me she was being truthful. "Not fully. You were honest with me, so I'm with you."

After a moment where it seemed neither one of us knew what to say, Jade said. "If you want to walk away. You can do so. I won't do anything. Honestly. No hard feelings. The question is do you?"

"Before I answer, what if I said that to you. Would you stay?"

"Do you see me walking away?"

I smiled. "No. I'm not walking away either. But does it bother you. That my father is….."

"Watching. What sane parent wouldn't. I acted badly and I'm not going to do that, sort of thing if things don't work out. You talked with your sister, started to work things out. Which is what I suggested you do. I think that will help us move along. So….wait I have an idea."

"What?"

"We can have a practice date."

I tilted my head. "What?"

"Look we've both dinged each other pretty good. So we go on a practice date so our first real date…or our next date won't turn into another disaster. We won't count it as a real date and if things go wrong we can critique each other, so we'll get it right.

As absurd as it sounded, Jade was being serious. The thing was, I didn't hate the idea.

"Ok, we can have a practice date. But I take that to mean I'm free to comment on what you do, without penalty. So you can get it right. Maybe if you play your cards, right you may get a practice kiss. Need to do it right you know."

Jade smirked and extended her head. "How about after school, we go to the mall, have our practice date, eat shop and see if we don't kill each other."

I could have answered that in many ways, but instead I said. "You really want this to work out , I mean really work out,don't you.

"Yes." Jade replied with a hopeful smile. That was just the answer I hoped for.

I smiled back. "I do too. You know Jade, we may need more than one practice date. So we get it just right. We are pretty bad at this."

Out conversation was cut short by the bell, indicating, it was 5 minutes to class. Jade then started to walk off, but as she did, she said. "Practice makes perfect!"

 **Well we're back to the story. Thank you for your patience. I wanted to finish Revenge of the wolf. But that's done now, so I'm back to this.**

 **What do you think of how things are developing. They admitted they don't fully trust each other but are committed to give it a serious try. So, serious or not, they're having a practice date.**

 **Earlier I mentioned the Xcom computer game. It's a turn based strategy game where you fight aliens. I play xcom and the newest installment, xcom 2 just came out. Having many options to customize your characters, I made Jade and Tori characters.**

 **I posted pictures on my twitter page of my Jade and Tori characters. My twitter handle is quittingtime101 Check them out.**

 **Thanks to Invader Johnny.**


	15. Practice Date

**Disclaimer: The show Victorious, its characters and other associated copyrights are property of someone else and not me.**

 **Unfairly judged**

 **Chapter 15 – Practice Date.**

 **No One's POV**

The day continued as per normal, but with each of the two girls slightly apprehensive about the, practice date. While the term, Practice date, was for the most part a Joke, they hoped that this trail run would lead to bigger and better things.

Both knew, they had made missteps along the way and hoped that things would go more smoothly. If that was possible.

At the end of the day Tori was at her locker and about to find Jade, when she saw the Goth walking up.

"Ready Vega?"

Tori demurred for a moment. "I feel like I should freshen up or change or something."

With shake of her head, Jade closed Tori's locker and grabbed the Latina by the wrist. "This is not a dress rehearsal. Besides, if we are to date and things progress beyond that, we're going to have to get used being with each other when we're not looking at our best."

"You mean, you're not always this pretty?" Replied Tori with a mock frown, as she pretended to struggle.

Pulling her close, Jade narrowed her eyes. "Glad this isn't a real date, because it'd be a shame if I had to hurt you."

"Jade."

"Yes?"

"You're not supposed to threaten your date."

"Vega."

"Yes?"

"If you will have noticed, at no point did I actually threaten to harm you. I merely stated that it would be a shame if I had to do so. So that's not a threat? Besides, this is a practice date so anything goes."

"Someday Jade."

Somewhat confused, Jade stopped. "What?"

"Someday we may look back at this moment and laugh at ourselves"

"Why would we do that?"

Smiling mysteriously, Tori merely shrugged.

Jade shook her head and let go of Tori's wrist. "Come on, we'll take my car, I drop you off after the date. Sound good?"

"Sure."'

The pair got in the car and were arrived at the mall about 20 minutes later. The car ride itself was uneventful and they mostly chatted about the day's events.

As they walked across the parking lot to he main entrance to the mall, Jade said. "Hungry yet."

"Not quite. Where would you like to eat? Mario's Pizza is good."

"Well we can agree on that. That's something."

Suddenly Tori had an idea. "How about we ask questions to each other, so we get to know each other."

For a moment Jade thought about saying how stupid was, but decided not to be a total gank. After a few seconds she concluded it was not too bad an idea. By this time they had reached the door and Jade held the door open for Tori. "Ok. Can I go first.?"

Appreciating the gesture, Tori smiled. "Ok."

"Tell me something about yourself that I would never guess.'

Tori thought for a moment. "Oh…I'm part German on my mother's side. My mother's grandfather, Heinrich Muller was from Dresden. His father, Jon, served in the German Army in WW I and won an Iron Cross for bravery at the battle of the Somme. My mom has that, and his wound badge. But in 1937, Jon knew war was coming and not wanting either of his sons to fight for Hitler and the rest of those maniacs', sold his Tailor shop and moved his family to Los Angeles."

Tori could tell, Jade looked impressed.

Nodding, Jade spoke. "Interesting, so your great great grandfather, fought in the German Army in WWI. Won an Iron Cross at The Somme, was wounded."

"Three times apparently." Noted Tori.

"Then had the smarts to get the hell out of dodge, before all fucking hell broke loose."

"He hated the Nazi's, said they kept talking about the glory of war and everyone was buying it. Jon said, there is no glory in war, only pain, misery, insanity and death. On a happier note, my mom still has one of the old family recipe books. She occasionally makes Quarkklauchen."

"What's that?"

"It's sort of a pancake, made with eggs, quark cheese, mashed potatoes, flour, with cinnamon on it. Not a very good description, but I like it. Ok, you tell me something I wouldn't have guessed."

"OK, since we're on the subject of family, my dad's oldest brother, for a short time was an actor in his early teens. His biggest part was 10 lines on an episode of "The Partridge family."

Tori instantly giggled. "Your uncle was on the Partridge family? Seriously?"

Tori then broke into a snippet of the 70's show theme song, " _Come on, get happy_."

Jade was quick to put a finger in the Latina's face. "Not a word, that's a closely guarded secret. I will not be connected with that mindless fluff."

"Ah come on. Besides, everyone knows Lori Partridge, aka Susan Dey was mega hot. But I will keep your secret, was he on other shows?"

"I agree on the Lori Partridge thing, she was pretty hot. I think he was on Mod Squad and Emergency, a few other shows. It was just a few bit parts. He became an Industrial Engineer."

Tori then pointed to one of the nearby trendy clothes shops. "Oooohhh.. I want to go in there."

Jade put her hand to her chin. "Himm…trendy, overpriced designer clothes and you're going to want to try it all on. And of course if I say that anything doesn't look fabulous on you, you'll take it personally. Now I know what it feels like to be a guy. Do I have to hold your purse too? They say fun is overrated anyway."

"Good idea. I'll be looking at dresses. Oh yeah, be a doll and get me an expresso." Tori said playfully as she shoved her purse into Jade's hands and headed into the store."

Moments later, Jade walked into the store and spotted Tori off in her element, looking at some new pink dress.

The place was a typical, trendy overpriced mall store, full of the latest fashions. Jade couldn't help but chuckle, as she spotted a guy in a green shirt, looking horribly board and holding the purse of the attractive blonde woman he was with, as she tried on clothes.

"I guess some things don't change." Observed Jade.

Tori was looking at dresses and while her gesture of making Jade hold her purse, was largely a joke, she did like being able to look at and try on the clothes; something she loved. She however, made a mental note to only do so for only a few minutes, it wasn't fair to Jade.

Much to Tori's surprise, Jade calmly found a chair and sat quietly while she looked at several outfits. The Goth spent her time watching Tori and the other patrons with a plant smile on her face.

After some minutes, Tori forced herself to stop. "Come on, I'm boring you, let's go."

Jade shook her head dismissively. "No, keep going. Why don't you try that green leather skirt with that black blazer and that white blouse? I think it will look good on you."

Tori raised an eyebrow. "Just who are you and what have you done with Jade. You hate fashion."

"Vega, first of all, yes I hate fashion, but that doesn't mean I don't know what looks good. Second, you love fashion and to be honest I kind of like watching you, enjoying yourself, pick all those cute outfits. We need to do things for each other, if we have any chance. Even I know that. Besides, if I really get bored, I'll just pass the time by annoying the rather snooty female sales clerks."

Tori immediately gushed. "That's so very nice of you."

"Well if I was mean to you all the time, that would make me boring, now wouldn't it. You just shop, enjoy yourself and make sure when we go to the horror con next week, you don't look as board as that guy over there. You'll be walking home if you do, which I'm pretty sure he's…."

Jade then yelled over at the man in the green shirt. "Hey buster, the more bored you look the less likely she's going to sleep with you anytime in the near future. That goes double if she's your wife. And stop eyeing the red haired chick at the Cinnabon across the mall. She's like 15 dude, seriously?"

The woman he was with huffed, angrily grabbed his wrist and immediately dragged him out of the store.

Jade laughed out loud, to the displeasure of the sales clerks, nearby. "He ain't getting any tonight."

Tori grabbed another dress and as she headed into the dressing room mumbled. "I think I was better off on her bad side."

True to her word, Jade let Tori try on more outfits and occasionally gave her opinion, which at times was somewhat brutal. But still Tori appreciated Jade making the effort.

A bit later, the pair emerged from the store, with Tori had bought 2 outfits. One Jade liked and on she liked.

Jade then pointed to forever 21. "Hey, let's hit that store."

Tori bit her lip. Jade had been good, but it wasn't best to push her luck, for her sake and the other shoppers. "Um…I'm kind of shopped out. How about we get some pizza."

"Sure. I think this practice date is going well." Remarked Jade, looking quite pleased with herself.

"We'll let's see if we can make it through dinner. Just don't mess with the salt shaker please."

Jade pretended to look very offended.. "Would I ever do such a thing?"

"That's almost as unfunny as it was the time you actually did it. Come on, I'll buy, since you were nice enough to hold my purse. That's assuming you didn't empty my wallet out, while you were doing it."

Jade shook her head. "No, I just went through your texts."

"Good."

The pair kept walking and talking, most of it was relaxed and playful banter. It being a practice date, oddly seemed to remove a lot of the pressure.

When they arrived at the restaurant they resumed asking questions about each other.

"I'll go first." Tori said a she sipped her soda. "Ok, has a movie ever really surprised you? I mean you didn't think you'd like it, but really did."

"Interesting question. The answer to that is 1973's Westworld."

"I've never seen that. What is it?"

"It's by Michael Crichton, the guy who wrote Jurassic Park."

"I loved that movie."

Jade grumbled, "The book was good, the movie sucked."

"Why?"

"The book was darker and more serious, the millionaire, Hammond, he was a major asshole in the book. They toned some things down, it could have been a first rate thriller, only it turned out to be a family friendly adventure. But Westworld, I thought would be the same way. It's about a theme park where you can relive the Roman, Medieval or Western time periods and they use Robots to do so."

"Wait, I remember, the robots, go crazy or something. They kill everyone."

"Yes, it was a serious story and the main character, he was just this ordinary guy, probably an accountant or something, and he's suddenly thrust into this crazy situation, where a robot is hunting him down. I loved how the last 15 or so minutes, has almost no dialogue. It could have been a bit more graphic, but it gets very serious in the end. Not to mention we're dealing with Robots, it easily could have gotten stupid, but they handled it all very well."

They continued to talk and occasionally bickered over pizza but each had a good time. Jade talked about horror movies and stories she was loved, Tori talked about fashion and each listened to the other intently. Though their interests varied wildly, the conversation never seemed to end. After dinner they walked some more. All they did was talk, neither one tried to make a move, hold hands or even kiss. Neither really felt they really needed too. They were connecting on a personal level and wanted to enjoy that without any complications. After all it wasn't a real date and that afforded them a bit of comfort, not usually there during a 2nd date. It allowed them to be themselves, a bit more than normal.

At about 9:00, they decided to call it an evening and Jade drove Tori to her car, which was still parked at Hollywood Arts.

"That's amazing." Said Tori as they pulled up next to her car.

"What's amazing?"

"No. Us. We're getting along, were talking about movies and things. Having a fun time, at least you seemed like you did, you are an very good actress you know."

Jade smirked, "Yes I am, but I didn't need to. We may be ready for a real date soon."

"Just try to not start a fight between other couples. I'm pretty sure you did. It's not a real date, so it doesn't really count. Remember you're supposed to impress me."

"I thought I did?"

Tori put a hand on Jade's shoulder. "You did, but it doesn't count. Not a real date. Did I impress you?"

"Everything except, when I made you laugh at dinner and soda came out your nose. That was just funny."

After briefly, cringing with embarrassment, Tori quickly leaned over and gave Jade short but very warm kiss. Just that brief touching of lips, was enough to make Jade's heart jump.

"Wow!"

The Latina smiled, grabbed her bag and got out of the car. "Practice date, practice kiss. Got to be ready…..Good night Jade."

After recovering her wits, Jade said. "So…do I get another date?"

Tori closed one eye and tilted her head. "I think we need a bit more work. There was the soda thing and you burped at dinner and forgot to say excuse me. So….How about the movies, Friday night. See if we can handle that?"

"Fine Vega, but if things go right perhaps we can practice holding hand or kissing more, I'd be horribly embarrassing if we bumped noses or something. Could ruin the whole date, you know."

Tori laughed. "Couldn't have that. Good night and thank you Jade."

Jade smiled back, not her normal smirk or anything even similar, it was a bright smile that was matched only by the sparkle in her eye. "Good night Vega."

 **Well they had a practice date. At first it was largely a joke, but that allowed them to relax and just say, none of it mattered. What did matter is that they enjoyed themselves. They talked about themselves and got to know each other.**

 **Thanks to Invader Johnny.**

 **The movie Westworld is from 1973 and in some ways is very ahead of its time. The thing that causes the robots to break down, which not discussed in great detail, is essentially a computer virus. It's is pretty much the first movie or book to even come up with such a concept. I recommend the movie. I also read that HBO is developing a miniseries based on the show as well.**


	16. El Santo

**Disclaimer: The show Victorious its characters and other associated copyrights are property of someone else and not me.**

 **Unfairly Judged**

 **Chapter 16 – El Santo**

 **No One's POV**

Tori awoke the next morning in a rather good mood. It was Saturday of course and that would be enough to put anyone in a good mood. The real reason of course was that the practice date had gone very well.

It was around 9:30 when she finally came downstairs. Trina was sitting on the couch watching one of her reality shows, Tori didn't know which one.

"So how did your practice date go last night? I take she let you live." Quipped Trina, with a heavy dose of sarcasm in her voice."

Slightly annoyed, and wanting her sister to dampen her spirits, Tori turned right around and began to head back up the stairs.

"Wait Tori, Please."

Stopping at the top of the stairs, Tori turned her head. "Why should I."

"Look, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that. I know you want all this to go right. "

"I do." Said Tori, with a curt nod.

"I know I it will take a while for us to be ok again. We can start by you telling me how it went."

"Can you keep the sarcasm to a minimum."

"To a minimum, I promise."

Giving her sister a chance, Tori came down the stairs and recounted the events of the previous night. Trina listened carefully, with only a mild scowl on her face.

"So what do you think?" Asked Tori as she braced herself for a snide reply.

"I'm glad it went well for you. All else I can say is just be careful. She's …." Trina paused as she tried to put it in more diplomatic.

"Different."

Appreciating Trina's restraint, Tori smiled. "Thank you. I'm wondering should I call her today. Is it too soon. I've been wanting to call her since I got up, but I'm just not sure."

"I thought this wasn't a real date?"

"It wasn't, but I want another not real date."

Trina was about to speak when the Katy Perry ringtone of Tori's phone, sounded.

Grabbing her phone, Tori looked. "A text from Jade."

Tori read it and half her smile morphed into a frown.

"What?" Responded Trina with a raised eyebrow.

"She's mocking me for agonizing over if I should call her or not. "

Trina leaned back and laughed. "I told you so."

Irritated, Tori picked up the phone and texted back.

"Was not. I was only considering it. You're not supposed to mock me."

Jade's reply was quick. "Says who? We're not really dating yet, so I can."

Not wanting to have a conversation over text, Tori called Jade.

"You're a total gank, you know that." Announced Tori as soon as Jade picked up.

"It's very poor manners to start a phone conversation with an insult." Replied Jade smugly.

"We had such a nice night and….."

"I have to ruin it by mocking you and making fun of you…blah…blah…blah. Get ready to go out."

"Why?"

"Uhh….let me think. Me ask you to get ready to go out. Most normal people would guess that I was going to take them out."

"What if I have plans?" Snapped Tori, a bit incensed by Jade's attitude.

"Don't care."

"What if I don't want to?"

"Don't care Vega. I want another practice date."

Tori quickly grinned, but decided to be a gank back. "How much money are you going to spend money on me?"

"I'll buy you a pack of gum. Be there in 30 minutes." Jade said, before hanging up.

Tori, realizing she hadn't put on her make up yet, ran upstairs and got ready. She had hoped to banter on the phone a bit longer, but much to her irritation, Jade denied her the chance.

Some 45 minutes after Jade hung up, Tori was waiting outside impatiently when Jade's car showed up.

Instead of getting right in, Tori stood by the door and poked her head into the window. "I'm not just going to come when summoned you know."

"I didn't summon you. I'm picking you up. There's a difference, nitwit."

"You know what I mean. I can't just be expected to drop everything when you want to come out."

"Yet you asked not just half an hour ago how much money I was going to spend on you. So you asking me how much money I'm going to spend on you, is acceptance to me of my offer to take you out. So you have lost the ability to complain or in other words. Get in the damn car."

Tori huffed in frustration. "That was 45 minutes ago, you specified 30 minutes. which means you're late. And you being late technically counts as a violation of our agreement to go out. So I can complain."

For a moment Jade scowled, then burst out laughing. "Ok, you got me. And a good point. I need to…."

Jade then grew somewhat serious as Tori got in the car. "be a bit careful about what I do. We've both made too many missteps already."

"I was just giving you a hard time. But you are right. Where are we going?"

"Going to have some fun."

"Fun?"

"Yes Vega, Fun." Quipped Jade, sounding just a bit annoyed. "Perhaps you've heard of it."

"I'm fun." Protested Tori.

Jade pulled away from the curb. "Yes, that punch in the face was horribly fun."

"I said I was sorry. You're still angry about that."

Jade grinned, but in a rather twisted way. "That and you standing me up as well and I will be probably for at least 8 or 9 years."

Tori who already was frowning, started to grow visibly sad. "I thought you had forgiven me."

"I did. But that doesn't mean I won't still be angry about it. I like anger; it's one of my favorite things. It makes me happy. I hold onto my anger."

Tori scratched her head. "So let me get this straight. Even though you've forgiven me, you're still angry at me. And you want to say angry, because you like it and you like me at the same time."

"Yes."

"That doesn't make any sense."

"Not my problem." Jade said with a shrug as she turned the corner.

"What if I make you angrier, will that make you happier."

"I'll just happily kill you then."

"OH!"

Sensing the odd conversation would only result in her frustration, Tori pushed Jade's illogic aside and asked.

"So what are we going to do?"

"Now I love horror, but the intensity of the stuff I love, you'll just have to get used to. You will. But until then, something a bit more fun. Combining my love of horror movies and you will keep this a secret, I'll hurt you if you don't, my love of Lucha Libre wrestling."

"The ones with the mask wrestlers."

"That's right. We'll have some lunch and then at 1:00 we'll see the immortal 1962 classic. Santo Vs. Las Mujeres Vampiro. They're having a special showing at the Grant street theatre today. They do it once a month. The film is in Spanish with English subtitles."

"You like masked wrestling? Well I can see the violence part appealing to you."

"It's fun. What else can I say. When the show the Lucha films, people wear masks, yell stuff at the screens, it's great fun and that's what we need."

Tori had heard of Lucha wrestling, had never seen it, nor was she a wrestling fan in general. But she agreed that fun was what they needed and it did sound fun.

For lunch, Jade took to her this small place that served chili-dogs. According to Jade, they served the best in the city. After a few bites, Tori found herself in agreement.

Now Jade had talked about remaining angry earlier. At lunch she seemed far from it. She was talkative, snarky and made an effort to ask questions about Tori and her interests.

After lunch they headed to the theatre. It was a smaller one screen theatre that showed art house and independent films mostly. The rest of the time, Jade explained, they showed old films.

The theatre had a festive atmosphere this day with various people wearing Lucador masks, particularly that of the films hero, El Santo. When asked, Jade told Tori he was one of the most popular and revered Luchador's of all time.

As they were finding their seat, Jade told the story. "In 1984, after he retired, when he was on a Mexican talk show, he shocked everyone by briefly removing his mask. Something he had never done. He died of a heart attack a week later. Some people believe, he knew he was nearing the end and in effect was bidding his fan's goodbye. His funeral was one of the biggest in Mexican history. They buried him in his mask. His son carries on his tradition."

Popcorn and drinks in hand, Tori and Jade sat down and readied to watch the movie. The scene reminded her of Rocky Horror a bit, with people cheering El Santo on and shouting insults at the villains. Jade along the way, told her a bit more about the world of Masked wrestlers.

As the movie went on, Tori noticed that Jade seemed to relax somewhat and allow herself to get into the movie. Tori, who was enjoying the movie herself, began to get into the movie herself. Finally at the big climax when El Santo burns the female vampires in their coffins, Jade got so excited that she squealed with Joy and hugged Tori.

Before Tori could respond, Jade quickly let go and scowled. "If you tell anyone about this, I'll destroy you."

Tori smiled and crossed her heart.

The movie ended shortly after and once again Jade seemed to be in a good mood. While both girls had a great time, they also had homework to do. So, they reluctantly decided to call it a day.

As they pulled out of the theatre parking lot, Jade smiled. Though Tori noticed it was a slightly nervous smile. "I know this was all last minute Tori, but thank you for coming out with me."

"I really had fun Jade. It was a fun movie and you know your stuff. Thank you."

Jade paused for a moment and a strange and uneasy silence seemed to quickly permeate the car. Tori sensed that Jade wanted to say something and decided to wait to say something.

But Jade said nothing, continuing to shift in her seat as she drove.

"Is something wrong?" Asked Tori, after a few tense minutes.

"I have a confession to make."

"Go ahead. You can say anything."

"I'm supposed to be this fierce person. I watch the goriest of horror films without batting an eye. Yet right now, I'm nervous as hell."

"Just say what you want to say Jade. I'm listening."

"The reason I wanted to take you out today, almost with no warning was that I was afraid that last night and how well everything went so well, was a fluke."

"You really thought that?" Replied Tori, looking concerned.

"No, I didn't want to think that. I was just afraid of that. I woke up this morning, feeling really great about last night, but I suddenly started to kind of panic. I was afraid that last night was just a one off thing. It's hard to admit this, but I really want this to work. I know you feel bad and I said a lot of stuff about still being angry. That's not totally true. I'm more hurt than angry and as a result a bit afraid."

"That I'll stand you up again."

"Actually, that I'll do something or I'll screw up. You made a mistake and I reacted quite fiercely. I can be that way sometimes. I needed to see you today. I needed to know that we could really be good together."

Tori could tell, simply by how nervous she sounded, that Jade really meant what she said. It touched her and made her feel special.

Taking a risk, Tori reached out and slipped her fingers into Jade's hand. The Goth accepted her tan finders readily, threading them amongst her own.

In her best and reassuring voice, Tori spoke. "Jade, I can tell this is very important to you. You're really putting yourself out there for me. To prove that you really mean what you say. I can't tell you how sorry I am that I misjudged you at first and I will probably always feel bad about it. But this is important to me too. I can't stress that enough. Nothing is guaranteed but I feel that if we trust and believe in each other, we can be together."

Jade smiled again, Tori's words of reassurance having done their job. "Thank you."

"You're welcome Jade."

"You know Vega. We may be ready to have a real date now."

Tori looked down at their intertwined fingers and smiled broadly. "I think we just did."

 **Hope you all like this new chapter. Let me know what you think.**

 **Thanks to Invader Johnny.**

 **Translation "Las Mujeres Vampiro." = The Vampire Women**


	17. Little Worries

**Disclaimer: The show Victorious, its characters and other associated copyrights are property of someone else and not me.**

 **Unfairly Judged.**

 **Chapter 17 – Little Worries.**

 **No One's POV.**

Jade leaned over and quickly gave Tori a kiss. It was a soft kiss, not one full of passion or lust, but one that felt full of promise. At least a very happy Tori, interpreted it that way. At one time, she would have not though Jade capable of such a kiss. Regardless, it felt perfect.

Breaking the kiss, Jade sat back and smirked. "Now, get out of my car. You're stinking up the place."

"Not a nice way to end a date." Retorted Tori in mock offense, as she threw up her chin and got out of the car. "I thought you were going to put out. I guess, I'll just have to play with myself then."

"So I'm supposed to be easy then."

Tori tried to keep up the act but laughed. "Sorry, I couldn't keep it up. Hey, you want to do something tomorrow?"

"Can't I have a paper for my writing class due Monday and I haven't even started it. Plus I have a bunch of studying to do. So that will keep me busy the rest of the weekend. Sorry."

"No, that's alright. I should get caught up myself on my studies. See you later Jade."

"Later Vega."

And like that, Jade drove off. The rest of the weekend for Tori was rather uneventful. She did catch up on some homework and spent the rest of her time working on her music. She told her sister her date went well and Trina said that was very good; though Tori doubted if she actually meant it. Still things were improving between the sisters.

Of course her thoughts lingered on Jade, but at the same time, she continued to be somewhat apprehensive about how things would work out. After all, lots of things could still go wrong. She wondered if Jade was worried as well.

Monday came and Tori arrived at school. She had managed to push her worried to the side and was in a good mood as she proceeded across the parking lot. She even had bought a new outfit, in the hopes of impressing Jade.

Jade meanwhile was at her locker, also in a good mood, when Andre and Beck came up.

"So, how was your dates?" Asked Beck with a wry smile.

"Yeah out with it. Did you get to 2nd ba…" Andre started to say, before Jade stomped his foot.

"None of your beeswax. Like I'm going to tell you two bozo's anything."

Beck quickly nudged, Andre. "Told you, she got nothing. You owe me 5 bucks"

Jade quickly sneered. "Just to shut you to clowns up. Everything went fine and everything is going fine. Any further speculation will result bodily harm."

Beck thought for a moment. "I take it, Tori hasn't met your mother yet?"

Jade, who already looked displeased, quickly shoved Beck against her locker. "Shut the fuck up! I will deal with that when the time comes. "

"You do realize Jade, your mother can be a bit…direct and vocal, not to mention really really snobby."

"I know that!" Jade barked, as she released Beck.

Andre suddenly snapped his fingers. "Hey wait, Beck. Didn't you tell me she "accidently" popped out of her bathing suit that one time while you were by their pool."

Beck let out an embarrassed sounding groan. "Twice."

"Come on it couldn't be all that bad, didn't she used to be a beauty queen? Miss California at one time I think."

The nasty glare that Beck found that Jade was giving him, told him in no uncertain terms, that answering that question would be most unwise.

Andre quickly laughed. But was silenced when Jade turned her glare on him.

"It's nice to know you find it all so funny." Remarked Jade in a menacing tone of voice. "But if either one of you talk to Tori about my mother, before I can. I'll….."

Jade let her voice trail off as she saw a happy looking Tori approach.

"Guy's, get lost!"

Andre and Beck quickly smiled, waved to Tori and backed away. "Ok."

As they quickly retreated, Andre asked Beck quietly. "Did you ever consider? Jade not withstanding of course."

"Are you kidding, that harpy?" He then thought for a moment and shrugged. "But she did have a really nice pair of… "

"Even nicer than?"

"Hell yeah."

"You didn't tell?"

"WHAT? Do you think I'm actually that stupid? I prefer to keep breathing."

Meanwhile Tori, who was wearing a new purple outfit came up to Jade.

"What are you wearing?"

"I bought a new outfit."

Jade quickly studied the Latina, tilted her head and deadpanned. "We're dating so I suppose this is the point where I'm supposed to say you look cute because you wore a new outfit."

Tori smiled with pride as she spun around, showing it off. "What do you think?"

"Let's see, purple pants, green shirt with a purple jacket, purple shoes. Congratulations, you look like Barney."

Upon hearing the insult, Tori instantly deflated. "I thought it was cute. Trina said it was cute."

"You would think that was cute. That and though I want you to have a good relationship with your sister, never ever take her fashion advice. The bag lady that lives behind the 7/11 down the street, dresses better than her."

"You don't think I'm cute?" Pouted Tori.

Rolling her eyes, Jade quickly responded. "You are cute, if not downright pretty. Though that's just between you and I, if you know what's good for you. But that outfit is hideous, even for you. Burn it, no even better yet."

Jade called over to Cat who happened to be walking by. "Hey dingbat!"

Cat frowned, but approached. "What? And I'm not a dingbat."

"That's a matter of opinion. See this purple outfit Tori's wearing. She's going to give it to you."

"Hey! You can't just give my clothes away." Protested Tori.

"Quiet Vega. I'm doing you a favor."

Cat squealed with joy. "Ohhhh….Now I can look just like a cute version of Barney."

Though she had protested just a moment earlier, Tori's face, upon hearing Cat's Barney comment, quickly fell. "I'll have it for you tomorrow."

"Thank you."

Jade then smirked. "Very good Cat. Now go away. The adults are talking."

"Kay Kay!" Cat said, as she skipped off.

Tori looked over herself and began to look downright sad. "I wanted to look nice for you."

Jade then turned to Tori and put her arm around her. "Did you not just hear me when I told you that you were cute if not downright pretty?"

"You think I'm pretty." Replied Tori, managing to smile.

"I think I just said that. Are you both deaf and color blind? Tell you what, since I'm making you get rid of that document, our next date will involve me taking you shopping and spending money on you. I'll even semi-behave in all those trendy clothing stores and make stupid sales clerks miserable, instead of reducing them to tears. I think I still owe you from all that crap I did to you, anyway. Just think, I almost got you on the no-fly list."

"What?"

"Oh…um….nevermind that."

Tori smiled and kissed Jade, which garnered a few odd looks from the others in the hallway. Jade was quick to respond in a shout.

"Didn't she hit you?" Asked one boy, with a confused expression.

"We'll I'm kissing her now. Gawk at someone else or the blood will start to spill."

The students around them quickly seemed to move on. Jade shut her locker and Tori pointed to hers. As they walked to Tori's locker, the Latina inquired.

"What were you, Beck and Andre' talking about?"

Jade shook her head and at the time shuffled her feet slightly. "Nothing, they were just being jerks."

"Ok. One thing Jade, Can you be just a little nice to other people. "

"Sorry, no can do, I'm saving all my niceness for you."

"That's not much to brag about, you've already ridiculed my outfit and given it to Cat."

"I told you I'd replace it."

"I'm not in for your money or to get material things. I'm in it because I like you and I want this to work out."

"Look Vega, if you really want to keep the outfit, I'll just give Cat a bag of Bibble."

Just then Robbie, with Rex in tow walked by. "Hi Tori, hi Jade."

Rex greeted the pair as well. "Hey hot stuff, hey Tori, where's Baby Bop?"

Jade laughed, while Tori looked at her outfit with further dismay. "Cat can have it."

With the ring of bell that was heard, both women knew that class would be starting in five minutes.

Jade smiled at Tori and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "Later Vega."

Things were going well, very well. But Jade, much like Tori worried. Lot of things could still go wrong. Her father was a bland, emotionless business man who saw only the bottom line. His world was accounts, figures and balance sheets. Jade knew how his logical mind worked. Her mother was a different story entirely. Jade would have to make any introductions, carefully.

Of course there was Tori's parents. They and their reaction to her, worried Jade nearly as much. She had done some rather nasty things and knew perfectly well, they would have been less than pleased.

Jade truly wanted things to work out. She wanted to be able to share more of her private self with Tori and hoped the Latina would do as well. This all made Jade nervous and Jade got even more ganky when nervous.

But for now, Jade pushed that out of her mind and focused on the day. She did however keep a close eye on Tori, to make sure no one else mocked her outfit.

Sadly, Ryder Daniels as he walked by their table at lunch could be heard singing a few bars of the "I love you, you love me" Barney them e song.

The resulting frown on Tori's face, didn't sit well with Jade at all.

Finally the end of the day came and as Jade was at her locker, Tori walked up.

"Thank you Jade."

"For what?" Replied the Goth with an innocent expression.

Tori batted her eyes. "I heard that Ryder Daniels had to get the Janitor to pry his locker open with a crowbar. It seems that someone epoxied it shut during 6th period."

Jade tilted her head and closed her locker. "You don't say."

"Was someone defending me?"

"Why would someone wanna do that?

"Maybe someone thinks I'm pretty." Said Tori as took Jade's hand.

Pausing for a moment to enjoy the feeling of Tori's soft hand in hers, Jade smiled. "Guilty."

Grinning Tori leaned into Jade's ear. "Wanna know a secret?"

"What?"

"I think you're pretty too."

Up to recently, Jade would have hated being called pretty. To her, it was more than an insult than anything. After all she was Jade and Jade was furious, talented, sexy, tough, a lover of all things Goth, but most certainly not pretty.

There was a lot on Jade's mind a lot of worries about the future. But hearing those words in her ear, from a certain Latina named Tori, Jade couldn't help but smile.

 **They are both will worried about all the various things that can go wrong.** **Time will tell if anything does?**

 **Hope you liked it, please review.**


	18. In Sync

**Disclaimer: The show, Victorious, its characters and other associated copyrights are property of someone else and not me.**

 **Unfairly Judged**

 **Chapter 18 – In sync.**

 **Tori's POV.**

As soon as I got home I shed my, Barney, outfit and threw it into a bag, to give to Cat. I can't believe I wore that. I could give Trina some grief for saying how good it looked on me, but considering were just starting to patch things up, I let it pass.

I found myself tempted to call Jade, but I resisted. We're just starting out and also patching things up so the worst thing I could do would be to crowd her. So I decided to leave her alone.

I helped my mom make dinner, then after we ate I did some homework and worked on my music. Of course by then, I had begun to worry that I maybe should have texted Jade. Doe she now thing I'm ignoring her? I'm still a bit jittery about all this. I screwed up enough.

Or is she ignoring me?

About a half an hour later, I got a text from Jade. "One thing, if you ever buy us matching outfits, I'll dump you instantly and resume my reign of terror on you. Good night, sweet dreams."

Ok, Not sure what to make of that, but at least she's thinking forward. I texted back, trying to be funny..

"I'll keep that in mind. Sweet dreams. But in your case, I think you'd prefer nightmares. So I hope they're horrible and full of nasty things."

Jade's response was, "Awwwwwww….that was so nice. Thank you."

That made me feel better.

The next morning, I was at my locker when Jade came up. I was hoping she'd smile at seeing me, but today she just looked her normal, dour self.

"You know Vega, Every time I watch LazyTown, I so want to kick Sportacus's ass."

I wasn't expecting that. "Why?"

"Sportacus, is a hyperactive fascist who constantly tells people what they can and can't eat. Robbie Rotten constantly attempts to free the citizens of LazyTown from his oppressive rule, but never succeeds. That stinks. Robbie Rotten is the true hero of LazyTown."

I quickly frowned. "Jade, that show is all about healthy eating and habits. It's a good show for children. I like it."

"You would!" Ranted Jade, how looked just a bit more irritated than normal. "And don't even get me started on Thomas and Friends, with that Sir Topham Hatt, who has obviously enslaved all the train engines in the Island of Sodor. Why, so they can haul goods to help build his empire!"

There are times where I would just shrug off Jade's insane rant about children's TV, but today, I just didn't feel like it.

"Jade, do you have any idea, how you sound? Those are just innocent children shows, not allegories for fascism, so why don't you rant about something that doesn't make you sound like a total wacko."

I must have hit a sensitive spot or something, as she briefly fumed in anger, before storming off. She didn't even say anything, not goodbye, not see you later or even, fuck you asshole. Just then I felt badly for a moment, did she need my sympathy for some problem she was having or was she just being Jade. Once that passed I realized that I was in the right and her leaving in such a manner was rude. It may be pure Jade, but that doesn't mean I have to either like or accept it.

"Get out of my way!" I could hear her screech at some random student who had the misfortune of bumping into her.

I just grumbled and got back to getting ready for class. I needed to remember that Jade was volatile and unpredictable and pushing back on occasion, was something I needed to do. Though just now, I didn't really even give it much thought. A little like that punch, I used on Jade, it sort of just happened.

I can be volatile and unpredictable as well.

Just another worry on the pile, I guess.

As I finished gathering up my books a minute later, I was joined by Andre' who was excited about a new girl he had met at a party for a family friend the previous night. It was a nice distraction, so I walked with him and listened about the next, future Mrs. Andre' Harris. I didn't bother to ask what happened to the previous, future Mrs. Andre' Harris. A different girl he seemed to be raving about some 2 weeks ago. Anyway, it was a nice diversion.

I also gave the Barney outfit to Cat, who couldn't be happier to get it. She wore it the next day, singing the Barney song over and over. We eventually made her stop.

I saw Jade after the next class in the hallway, but she still looked pretty chizzed off, so I kept walking right past her without a single word. Besides, she was the one that stormed away from me, why should I talk to her. She was rude to me, the person she wants to date.

The next class after that was Sikowitz's class and getting there, I could not see Jade there yet. Perhaps she'd skip it, knowing I was there.

No sooner than I had sat down and wonder did Jade, still looking just as unhappy, sat down next do me.

Still I wasn't going to bend, so I looked over to Beck and smiled. "I love your new shirt, it looks real good on you. Did you just buy it?"

About a second later, I became aware of a low growling sound next to me. It reminded me of animal, from one of those nature shows, about ready to attack.

I ignored Jade and began to fumble in my purse, looking for nothing in particular.

The growling only got louder, causing me to turn and glare back. "Was that growling directed towards me or am I just in the way of someone else who's displeased you? It's so hard to tell some days."

"Don't do that!" Jade snapped.

"Do what?"

"Flirt with Beck, cause your pissed off at me. Do that again and I'll have him killed and Robbie too, just for good measure?"

"Hey, I didn't do anything?" Cried Robbie.

Beck just scratched his head.

Rex of course, immediately chimed in. "Just remember to not bleed on me."

Strangely enough, I let out a snort of laughter, which Jade seemed to not like one bit. "First was not flirting, I was complementing him on his shirt. Secondly, I'm not pissed off; I'm just kind of really annoyed. We were talking and you just stormed off cause you didn't like what I said. "

"That's shirt is ugly as fuck and you know it and I'm sorry for storming off and not saying anything, I don't want to talk about it. I apologized, happy now! Now stop being a bitch." Jade said as she brushed her hand against mine, indicating she wanted me to hold hers.

No sooner did I take her soft hand into mine, did she sit back in her chair and appear to relax.

We couldn't talk any further as Sikowitz suddenly breezed in, announcing we'd be doing an exercise/competition where we were going to portray inanimate objects. We all had to pull slips out of a rather smelly hat and play those things.

I wound up paying a drinking fountain, Jade did a good job as a mailbox and the winner of course was Rex, for his dead on portrayal of a discarded bottle of cheap Bourbon. According to Sikowitz, he truly embodied the object, by not moving one bit. We all of course, happened to move and thus were disqualified.

As class ended, Rex started to boast, but an icy glare from me directed at Robbie, stopped the boast dead in its tracks. Better for me to take care of it, than Jade, not to mention, that puppet pisses me off too.

Jade quickly took my hand and gain and for the first time today, managed to smile.

"A smile, for what do I deserve such an honor?"

Jade shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe putting Rex in his place or surviving our first fight."

"Not much of a fight really, more like a minor skirmish."

"Oh yeah, you didn't punch me." Jade said darkly before quickly apologizing. "Sorry. I shouldn't have said that."

"It's ok."

"I have to go the other way, but can I walk you to class?"

Not able to help but smile, I squeezed her hand. "You're so sweet."

The resulting frown on Jade's face was actually rather funny. "No need to insult me."

"I'll be there's a sweet young girl just waiting to burst out."

Jade quickly gave me a accusatory look. "You like young girls?"

"No….er….I didn't mean…." I sputtered before Jade started to laugh.

"Got ya."

"At least your feeling better, I hope I had something to do with that?"

Jade smiled again. "Just a bit."

"I'm glad."

"I'm taking out shopping tonight. Dinner too. You don't even have to put out, but 2nd base would be nice."

"Only 2nd base, what's the occasion?"

"We spend time together, do that whole bonding thing you and are supposed to do. I promised you I'd buy you some decent clothes anyway. "

"You actually want to bond with me. You do realize that means spending increasing amount of time with me. Sure you can handle it?"

Jade became quiet for a moment, "We're not always going to get along."

"There are two types of couples jade, the ones admit they fight and the ones that lie about it. We had a bit of an off day, but I think it's all a matter of us finding our rhythm with each other. We've had some missteps, several in fact, but we need to just talk it out. That's why you should have just walked off like that. I don't want to leave things unresolved. Heck, even if you just said, screw you Vega, that would be some sort of closure."

As she appeared to think, Jade nodded. "Good point."

We walked in silence, just holding hands until we reached my classroom. Jade this time smirked, tenderly kissed me on the cheek and said.

"Screw you, Vega!"

The rest of the school day went as normal as could be. Though there was some excitement when Rex mysteriously vanished from Robbie's locker during gym.

He was found an hour later, stuffed head first in a toilet, in 3rd floor woman's bathroom. Did I mention that someone had taken a dump in the toilet first, so Rex was rather…..Messy.

Robbie tried to take him to the last two classes of the day, but the stench was so bad, Principal Helen made Robbie leave him in his car.

Jade took me shopping and as promised she only made the sales clerks miserable, but not to the point of tears. It was like that scene from pretty woman, only Jade was much more demanding and cruel. She took me to dinner and we had a real good time. Our conversation flowed well and though we did bicker I felt that were starting to get in sync. She paid for everything and insisted on doing so. I wonder if she feels the need to pay for everything, so I'll like her more. I hope not.

At the end of the night, Jade drove me home and gave me a very very nice goodnight kiss. She's a wonderful kisser, full of passion. I love the fact that that passion is for me.

We have a ways to go before we can really open up to each other. I could tell seem distracted from time to time, as if something was lingering in the back of her mind; possibly what ever made her in a bad mood in the morning. But I was willing to let it go. She'll tell me when she feels ready.

We were doing well, for now at least.

 **LazyTown is a children's television show originating in Iceland. It's all about good nutrition, exercise and other healthy habits.**

 **Thomas and Friends is a British Television show that follows the exploits of Thomas the tank engine and his friends.**

 **Till next time…..**


	19. She's come undun

**Disclaimer: The show Victorious, its characters and other associated copyrights are property of someone else and not me.**

 **Unfairly judged.**

 **Chapter 19 – She's come undun**

 **Tori's Pov**

"I wonder what it's like to watch someone being dissolved in vat of acid. Alive that is. It's not fun if their dead. Then it'd be like dissolving any random thing, like a chair or a toy truck. Maybe it would smell a bit worse, but not nearly as fun. No screams…."

I looked up from my burrito with a frown. "Jade, were eating."

"So what."

"Jade, That's hardly proper lunchtime conversation."

Seeming annoyed by me throwing shade on her speculation, Jade quickly sneered back. "I'd bet you'd scream really loud if I dissolved you in acid."

I quickly pondered how to respond and decided to fight fire, with fire. "Not if I slashed your throat during sex, with a razor blade first. Right as you were about to orgasm, I might add."

I don't think she was expecting that reply as her mouth sort of slowly fell open with a somewhat stunned expression. For several seconds she just sat there looking as if she were trying to either picture just that."

"Someone call the fire department, because Jade's been burned." Quipped Rex in a rather gleeful tone.

"OOOOOHHHHH…" Retorted Andre and Beck in near unison.

Perhaps I went a bit too far, as Jade jumped up from the table and roared. "Shut the fuck up!"

Then she sat back down and turned to me and glared, looking as if she was going to say something, but just as quickly went back to eating her salad.

"Hey Jade, Aren't you mad at Tori." Asked Cat, who up to this point had been silent.

Jade then briefly looked up from her plate. "None of your beeswax, I'll deal with her later."

Jade and I have been dating for almost 3 full weeks now and things have been going pretty good. Well, for Jade and I that is and considering how much of a train wreck this all was at the start, I'm happy. We've been taking it slow. A lot of our time has been spent on studying for final exams together. Those start in a few days. Summer is almost here and I'm really looking forward to spending it with Jade. In fact I'm thinking of asking her to officially be my girlfriend. I get giddy just thinking about it.

Sitting here eating the last of my lunch, I worry for a moment about what Jade meant by "deal with her later" but I quickly dismiss it as just; Jade talk. She's got to be able to get as well as she gives.

Looking up at her, as finishes off the last of her salad with a rather sour expression, I smile. She does not smile in return; choosing only to eat the jello that remained on her plate. Still I didn't worry.

Of course no sooner as we had gotten up from our table a pale hand grabbed my wrist.

"You and me…broom closet….Now!"

As I was quickly pulled away, I could hear the guys giggling and at the same time, cat say. "Ooooo…Tori's in trouble."

Again I worried for a moment, if was really in trouble, but once again told myself, no.

As she had before, she pulled me into the closet and promptly….

….hugged me.

Just like that, she pulled me and tightly wrapped her arms around me. I like it when she hugs me like that. Not only is she touching me, but I can smell her. I like her scent. Today, she smell's faintly of lavender. And as she buried her head into my shoulder, gripping me as if life depended on it, she said nothing.

I love it when she holds me. We're going slow, but it's perfect little moments like these that really make me hope we have a future together.

After a moment she lets go and smirks.

"So I'm not in trouble?" I query.

For a moment her smirk widened into a solid grin, then she kissed me. "Fabulous burn…You're wonderful….later vega."

Then she left.

How good is that, I totally burn her and I get a hug and a kiss. She really likes me. Just thinking about it, I suddenly squeal with Joy.

The rest of the day went rather uneventfully. We had no plans for that night, as Jade had a term paper to finish and I had a song project to finish writing.

The next morning, I walked up to Jade at her locker.

"You like coffee."

Slamming her locker shut, Jade raised an eyebrow. "Is this a trick question?"

Quickly chuckling, I said. "No. Have you heard of that new ultra expensive coffee bar up near Beverly hills that just opened."

"Yeah, I think it's called, The golden bean. Supposedly some of the best coffee the country."

I then held what looks like 2 tickets. "They're having a special tasting event, to help promote the place. My mom had a friend who was invited, but she couldn't make it. My mom turns out, couldn't use them either, so she gave them to me. The event is tonight, at 6:00. Wanna come?"

Jade, I guess, lit up at the thought of free exotic coffees from around the world. "Damn right."

We then quickly arranged for Jade to drive us out there, immediately after school. We could window shop a bit in the ultra-expensive stores nearby then attend the coffee tasting.

More time to spend with Jade, I was really looking forward to it as the day rolled on. Finally the day ended and we left for the event. With traffic we wound up in the ultra-exclusive shopping district around 4:30. We planned to window shop, attend the event, then some quick dinner and back to studying.

As we got out of the car, Jade slipped her fingers into mine and we headed off. I loved all the expensive fashions and jewelry visible in the windows. I know Jade didn't like it, but she indulged me and even made some comments about how this or that would look good on me. It meant a lot to know that she was doing this for me. Oh don't get me wrong, she did make some acid comments, but mostly it was about the well dressed women and men around.

It was nearly 6:00 and we decided to head to the tasting. Just a short bit away from the coffee bar we were passing a sidewalk café, in front of a small but expensive, hotel. Neither of us paid attention to the various people here.

At least until I heard a voice call out.

"Jade?"

Looking over at Jade, I saw her visibly cringe, then look over to a small group of well dressed women at one of the tables.

Seeing Jade look over, one of the women, raised her hand. "Jade. Here darling."

With a grunt Jade, still holding my hand, walked towards the table.

The woman who called Jade had long blonde hair, striking features was very very well dressed, with what looked like a solid gold tennis bracelet. She looked very rich. I guessed she was in her 40's but she looked much younger.

As we got nearer, I got a closer look at her eyes, they were the exact same as Jades. Not to mention that some of her facial features were jade's as well.

I had been Jade's house a few times, mostly we either studied or cuddled, while watching horror films. I met her father again and he was cold and businesslike but otherwise polite. Her stepmother was around occasionally but seemed to avoid Jade.

A few times I had asked Jade about her real mother. She told me a few things, such as her sister had died and they came from money but when I asked, she always steered me away from the subject.

"Is this your mother Jade?"

Jade quickly gritted her teeth, "Yes, and her friends."

Arriving at the table, they looked like they were having an early dinner, consisting mainly of martinis and looked to be on about the 5th or 6th course.

"Jade darling, what are you doing up here. Joining us?"

"No mother. I'm attending the tasting event down the street, with Tori"

Slightly nervous, but wanting to make a good impression, I stepped forward smiled, and extended my hand.

"Hello Mrs. West. I'm Tori Vega. Pleased to meet you."

For a second she narrowed her eyes and gazed at my hand as if it were covered in insects. Shifting her look to me, she seemed to look at each part of my clothing, down to my shoes. I was wearing one of my nicer outfits. Nevertheless, she quickly scowled with a look of condescension.

"First of all, I'm divorced from Jade's father, I am no longer Mrs. West." Snapped the woman quickly, "I took back my maiden name. It's Miss, Gloria Parkwell. Of the Long Island Parkwells. Do not refer to me as Mrs. West Again. You will refer to me as Miss Parkwell."

"Sorry." I murmured with embarrassment as I withdrew my hand.

She then looked to Jade, who was standing behind me now. "Jade, is this the brute that struck you."

"Yes…er…it's not…quite like that…." Said Jade, as she seemed to fumble over her words, before Gloria cut her off.

"Jade, since you've chosen to date women, I can at least set you up with a better class of girl. I'm going to call, My friend Candice and see if I can set up a date with her daughter, Brittany."

Incensed, I straightened up and frowned. "Excuse me, I'm dating Jade."

Me speaking up only seemed to annoy her further. "I didn't ask you…..Don't you have a house to clean, rather than waste my daughters time. Granted she wastes enough with all this Goth nonsense."

I was shocked. I knew what she was implying and it was an insult, plain and simple. But what made it worse was two things.

The fact that Gloria's rich friends, quickly cackled with laughter or the fact that Jade remained totally silent.

Looking back, I could only see an expression of frustration.

I took a deep breath, trying to push down my danger and tried to ignore the insult "Look Miss Parkwell. I don't want to get off on the wrong foot. I'm sorry If I insulted you, please accept my apologies. I like Jade a lot. She's a special girl, not to mention hugely talented and I hope to keep seeing her."

"Damn right she is. Only she need to be with a better class of people than you. Where did you get that outfit….I know….the dumpster behind the Tijuana Wal-Mart."

She went there and with every passing second, my blood was beginning to boil more and more. Again I heard nothing but silence from behind me. Why is she not doing anything to defend me. Though after a few seconds I heard Jade weakly say.

"Come on…let's go."

But I wasn't going to crawl away. Instead I glared back. "Look Mrs. Parkwell….I don't know why you don't like me. Maybe it's because I'm not rich or maybe your just a bigot. But for your information, my father is of Puerto Rican ancestry and your implication is both unwarranted and extremely rude, to put it midly. I tried to be nice and ignore you insult, but no more. I don't clean houses and neither does my father. He's a cop. Good day."

I then felt my hand being yanked. "Come on." Said Jade, her voice quivering a bit.

As walked away with Jade, she merely sneered back. However just as I turned away, I heard Gloria chuckle and say to her friends.

"He's probably on the take."

With that, my temper, was sent flying off the charts. The last time I was this mad, I punched Jade in the face. Not caring, I yanked my hand away and stormed back up to Gloria.

Fuming, I said."You know Gloria…..I heard you had a sister that died as a child. Hit by a car, wasn't it. I'm sorry to hear that, because I'm bet she was a lot nicer than you. Such a shame your parents were left with a snobby, racist bitch of a daughter, instead of the good one."

I didn't even plan to say that, I just thought of the most devastating thing I could say and blurted it out. Her friends simply gasped in horror, while Gloria simply turned white and began to shake. I wanted to devastate her and she looked quite devastated. Part of me wanted to take it back, but that wasn't possible.

Tears forming in her eyes, she stood up and screamed. "DAMN YOU!

Now sobbing, Gloria then fled.

I could only imagine how Jade would react as I turned to face her. The slap I got across the face, quickly gave me the answer.

"I didn't tell you that, so you could destroy my mother! Why in the fuck, did you say that!" Screamed Jade.

I didn't back down from Jade's mom and I wasn't going to back down from Jade.

"I'm not sure what's worse, her insulting me or you just standing there letting her. Not one word in my defense, not one! How fucking stupid of me to actually, believe you cared for me. "

"Screw you!" Hissed Jade.

"Nice to know you're shaping up to be a utter bitch just like your mother. You're not worth it, you never were. I thought you were kidding about that acid bit, maybe not. Go to hell!"

Still furious, I slapped Jade across the face and walked away. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see her run in the direction her mother had fled.

She just made her choice and it wasn't me…

Fuck her. I muttered as I pulled my phone out to call Trina for a ride home.

 **I took a break from writing and reading for a few weeks. Sorry to start up again on such a bad note, but bad things happen. More story to come.**

 **The song title, "She's come Undun" is a line from the song Uudun, by the Guess Who.**


	20. Work for it

**Disclamier: The show Victorious, its characters and other associated copyrights are property of someone else and not me.**

 **Unfairly Judged.**

 **Chapter 20 – Work for it.**

 **Tori's POV**

Once again, I had let my fiery Latin temper get the best of me and the result was disaster. Of course the word disaster, with its rather dramatic overtones, doesn't even remotely cover how I feel. I was crying by the time Trina picked me up. Since Jade and I drove together, I had left my car at school.

"What's wrong?" Said Trina with a suspicious look that indicated she already knew the answer.

"We ran into Jade's mom, she was horrible to me. Jade just stood there and let her mom insult me. I tried to be nice, I tried to ignore the insult, but she kept going. So I lost my temper and said something really horrible. Her mom started to cry and ran away. Jade slapped me and I slapped her back. She…she….it's all over."

Trina sighed and briefly opened her mouth to speak. It hung open for a moment as she seemed to ponder something. Then just as quickly she closed her mouth and put a hand on my shoulder. While it felt comforting, I continued to cry none the less.

Seconds later Trina put her hand back on the steering wheel, pulled into traffic and we were off.

Only when we were blocks away and I had mostly finished crying did Trina speak.

"Do you want to go directly home or to your car. I guess it's at Hollywood Arts."

"My car, please." I mumbled.

"Kay."

Thankfully, Trina left me alone as we drove through the city. I continued to cry and whimper as I just watched the buildings glide by. Eventually however, the emotional sting subsided enough for me to focus on one simple fact.

Jade in the entire time her mother was insulting me, never once defended me.

Not only that, Jade followed her mother when she ran off.

When she first asked me out, I thought it was nothing more than a prank, a cruel joke. But she proved or at least I thought she proved she actually liked me.

Maybe, it was a joke after all. How could it be anything else? How could Jade like me, or anyone else for that matter?

Who knows?

What I did know was that I was in totally devastated and knew that when push came to shove, Jade abandoned me.

Arriving at Hollywood arts, Trina smiled weakly and said. "You'll find someone."

All I did was shake my head and get out of the car.

Alone in my car, I looked at my phone, wondering if there would be some message from Jade; a message that I was both hoping and not hoping to get.

There was nothing, no texts, no emails, not phone calls, no communication of any kind.

"Joke's on me, I guess." I said, tears flowing again, as I got in my car.

By the time I got home, Trina had already told my parents of what had happened. They tried to be understanding, but it didn't help much. My mom comforted me while my father sternly noted that any form of retaliation on Jade's part would result in a visit to her house in his official capacity as a police officer.

I was feeling bad enough already, that only made me feel worse. I just wanted to crawl under a rock and die.

My mother, I think understood more, took me upstairs and said all the normal things that mom's say when their daughter is heartbroken. I listened but it barely registered. I was simply too hurt and too upset to really process any of it.

She told me she'd bring dinner to my room and said I would be left alone for the rest of the evening, saying she'd be downstairs if she needed anything.

The rest of the evening I lay in bed alternately crying and at times raging at Jade's defense of her mom. Emotionally I was all over the place and I just didn't know how to deal with it.

By the time I had finally fell asleep, there were only two things I knew for certain. That I had final exams the next morning and I'd have to see Jade the next morning as well.

Both of which made me not want to wake up the next morning, that unlike the prayer, I would happen to die before I wake.

Sadly the buzzing of my alarm told me that I had survived the night and that feeling of dread mixed with pain, regret, anger and sorrow returned with a vengeance.

The only consolation I had was that there was two days of final exams, followed immediately by summer vacation. I wouldn't have to see Jade for a full 3 months.

Still, I got ready, ate what little breakfast I could as my appetite was almost completely gone and drove to school.

On my way there I could only imagine what Jade would do this time.

I made it to my locker without incident and just as I opened it, I spotted out of the corner of my eye, Jade moving towards her locker. She even look at me and in fact seemed to keep her back to me.

I wondered what I would feel when I saw her again. Would I burst into tears? No. All I felt was anger, which came as a surprise. All I could think of was how she just stood there and let her mother insult me. The more I thought about it, the angrier I felt, the more angry I felt, the more I thought about it.

Soon I wasn't feel sad at all, just really pissed off at Jade all her bullshit about liking me. But even with me angry as I was, I didn't want to start anything. I just wanted to put it all behind me. She doesn't care, she feel doesn't anything, she's a vain, self-centered, wench, who lives to inflict as much pain on the people around her.

So I grabbed my books and headed off to class, not paying attention to Jade. She was out of my life, permanently and I'm all the better for it.

 **No One's Pov**

Hardening herself and doing her best to ignore her sorrow and pain, Tori buckled down and focused on the all-important final exams.

Of course on her way to class, she encountered Cat who inquired about why Jade was so silent.

Shaking her head, Tori said plainly. "Cat, Jade and I had a fight. We're no longer talking, we're no longer dating, we're no longer friends. We aren't anything. We're just two strangers who happen to go to the same school. That's all I'm going to say."

Suddenly looking deflated and a bit sad, Cat nodded and walked off.

One thing that did continually hang in the back of Tori's mind was what Jade was going to do. Would there be some devastating prank or some horrible humiliation lurking around the next corner.

But nothing happened.

She saw Jade of course, but the Goth was quiet, showed little emotion and avoided everyone. Despite that, Tori resumed her spot eating on the steps on the other side of the school. While a relief that Jade had left her alone, Tori couldn't help feel a sense that Jade has simply written her off. It was a bitter feeling, though one amongst many.

Tori simply concluded that Jade viewed her as a mere distraction or some curiosity that needed to be satisfied, an experiment perhaps. But this experiment had failed and like all failed experiments, they were discarded.

Two days later, Tori walked out of school, her last exam finished. The term was over and summer vacation was upon her.

Once she looked forward to three months of getting to know Jade. Now she would be spending the next three months trying to get Jade off her mind and try to put herself back together. One thing that would help was a job, her father had gotten for her. The wife of a family friend owned a catering business, that did parties, weddings and corporate events. They needed extra help, with the more mundane tasks, serving drinks, food, clean up.

Needing the money and the distraction, Tori took the job hoping that eventually she would feel like a person again.

As far as what Jade felt, Tori didn't want to care, but she was sure it was nothing at all. After all, how on earth could Jade West actually have any feelings?

Little did Tori know, that as she walked to her car, Jade was watching her silently from one of the empty upstairs classrooms.

Without saying a single word, she watched the Tori walk to her car and then drive away. For several moments more Jade watched the parking lot as it slowly emptied out. School was done for the term and a joyous mood seemed to be all over the place.

Well almost all over the place.

Letting out a small sigh, Jade turned and headed to her own locker, pulling out its contents and stuffing them into a bag. The locker would remain hers for the next term but she always emptied it out during the summer.

Soon she was on her way home where once there she retreated into her room and closed the door.

Only then, alone and cut off from everyone, did she allow herself to cry, fall apart and do everything someone who was utterly devastated would do.

Contrary to popular belief, Jade did have feelings and like Tori, they were hurt and badly.

All her dreams, all her hopes had gone up in flames in mere moments.

She could blame it on herself, she could blame it on Tori, she could even blame it on her mother, but for now she could only lay on her bed and sob. She didn't want to do anything else.

For the next two weeks she did little else. Unless it was to use the bathroom or get food from the kitchen, Jade remained in her room 24/7.

Finally one Tuesday afternoon, Jade heard on her bedroom door a rather stern knock that could only belong to one person.

Her father.

Up to a few days previous he had been on an extended business trip. Even when he was home he was normally at the office or in his study. A knock on her bedroom door from him was an unusuall thing indeed.

"Yes" Answered Jade.

Slowly the door swung open and in stepped the tall figure of her father, looking just a bit uneasy. To Jade that was even more strange then him knocking at the door.

"Jade, May I come in!"

Putting her book down, Jade sat up on the bed and looked to her father as he entered, closed the door behind him and sat down in her desk chair

"What are you reading?" Asked Mr. West as he adjusted his tie.

"And then there were none, by Agatha Christie. I like stories where everyone dies."

"Good book I hear." Said Mr. West, his voice trailing off.

"Dad, you rarely come to my room, somehow I guess this particular visit was in regard to my reading choices." Retorted jade cynically.

"Yes, of course.: Mr. West cleared his throat. "I understand you've had some problems."

Having no idea where he was going with this or what lecture he had in store for her, Jade merely nodded her head, instead choosing to wait for her father to speak.

Looking even more uneasy, he loosened his tie and began to speak. "Jade, I'm not very good at these type of things, but I feel the need to talk to you about what happened and how you've been held up in your room ever since. I and your stepmother are growing a bit worried."

Visibly surprised at not only her father's words but in the oddly caring way he said it, Jade moved to the edge of the bed. "You're concerned?"

"I am your father you know. I'm not good at these sort of things. I'm emotionally distant and oftentimes cold, but I'm not blind either. "

"I take it you spoke to my mother."

"Yes. She called me and gave me an earful."

With a sigh, Jade leaned back on her bed. "Dad if you want me to get out of my room and do something I will."

"It's not just that, I want to help you with this."

Jade sat up and looked at her father incredulously. "You do?"

"Yes. Let me tell you something. Your mothers family is rich and they are what they called, old money. Not only that they were influential, one of your relatives was a congressman in the 20's, another ran a major railroad for a time. They are very rich and are very used to getting what they want handed on a platter."

"I know that dad."

"My grandfather delivered furniture for a department store. His grandfather came got right off the boat from Europe and went to work in a coal mine. My family is from much more humble and hard working beginnings. But that is how we got to where we are, hard work. Each one of my ancestors worked hard to make his life better, make it better for his children. I work hard, too hard, but I do very well now."

"And?"

"Everyone loses from time to time, bad things happen, but what I hate most is seeing you just give up."

"On Tori?"

"On everything. You've been shut up in your room for two weeks straight. Look jade, I don't understand your obsession with all things death, this scissoring and this collection of odd things around me. But while I don't understand, I do respect your drive. You worked on your film projects, you worked hard on that play you put on, you work hard on writing your stories. I'll bet you haven't written a word in two weeks, haven't you."

Jade lowered her head. "No."

"You're better than this Jade? You're a West."

Abruptly jade sprung off the bed in anger. "What difference does it make? I blew it. And what Tori said to my mother. I…I….it's not use. And you know what the worst part was, I let my mother insult Tori and I didn't say a fucking thing?"

"I know and I know why. Does Tori know why?"

"No."

"She doesn't know your mother, that fact that she and the rest of her family never properly dealt with her sister's death. The fact that her insecurities have played out to a point where she needs to be constantly be adored, the center of attention. Why do you think she became a beauty queen? So she could be adored. The fact that she looks down on people who aren't as rich as her. She used to constantly ridicule my grandfather because he delivered furniture. He was a good man and I deeply respected how hard he worked. I didn't see him too often, but each time I came to visit, he took me to a baseball game, bought me anything I wanted. I would ask your mother not to make fun of him, but she just kept doing it. One day I realized she simply didn't care about how I felt, that was the day I decided to file for divorce."

"I didn't know that."

"Another thing you don't know. Do you know why I fought so hard for custody of you?"

Jade paused for a moment and scratched her head. "No, you don't seem like the fatherly type."

"I'm not, but I knew one thing, had I let her raise you, she would have molded you into a carbon copy of herself. You would have turned just as shallow, insecure and snobbish as she turned out to be. A person who lives for one purpose and one purpose only": to be adored. You have drive, you're independent, you're smart, you know what you want, all qualities I'm proud of you for having. you can be anything."

"Until recently. But what difference does it make. This thing with Tori, it's done."

Mr. West, now a bit more relaxed that he opened up, shook his head. "The odd thing about what Tori said is that it's a bit closer to the truth than she realized. That's' why the attack was so devastating. She doesn't know about what can best be described as you and your mothers rather, toxic, relationship. For reasons I don't fathom, you've never been able to stand up to her."

Jade nodded. "I just can't. It's like the words get stuck in my throat. When I was younger she was pushing me to be like her. She even started to talk about putting me in pageants, but then the divorce came. But again what difference does it make."

"Ok, down to brass tacks. Do you or do you not want to date this Tori. I've met her, she seems nice, she's polite and like you, knows what she wants."

"Yes" Said Jade without hesitation. "But it's over."

"Look, as I see it, you both blew it and each of you owe the other an apology. Despite how true what Tori said was, she never should have said it. Only when that happens can you work on fixing things. I suspect she's hurting as much as you."

Jade sat back on the bed and sighed. "I'm sure your right, but I just don't know what to do."

"Well you owe each other an apology. My advice is to be the bigger person and make the first move. Apologize first and try to explain yourself. Make a peace offering, put yourself out there. I can't guarantee she'll be receptive, but you won't win if you don't work at it."

"You think I should?"

"Yes, perhaps she can help you get the courage to stand up to your mother. And perhaps this will help. You have a trust fund, your mother's father set up for you. If she ever gets mad and threatens to yank it, she's bluffing. It's an irrevocable trust and can't be yanked unless you agree to it. Even if you make progress it may take some time. I'll even let you use the cabin if you want to get away. I won't be using it much this summer and getting away may help."

Jade grew quiet for a moment, looking deep in thought as all the words sunk in.

After a few moments she looked up. "You know, I think this is the most we've spoken in years."

Mr. West nodded. "I'm sure. I'll admit it wasn't easy. I had to force myself to make that effort. But I'd be a terrible father if I didn't try. I think you may need to step out of your comfort zone as well. You can even talk to your stepmother. She's not all that bad, if you stop terrorizing her and get to know her. So are you going to make an effort or at least leave your room?"

"I will" Replied Jade weakly

Mr. West stood up and shook his head. "Not sounding like that you won't. Come on show me some of that West sprit. Tell me what you want, exactly what you want and mean it."

Suddenly challenging back, Jade barked. "I want to get Tori back and make her my girlfriend."

Nodding in approval, Mr. West walked to the door. "It's not about being a woman or a lesbian or any of those things; it's about picking yourself up, knowing what you want and doing your damn best to get it. "

Jade smiled briefly. "Thanks dad."

"You're Welcome, now go out there and be a West."

"I will."

"You ok now?"

Jade nodded, with a fierce look in her eye. "I will as soon as I get Tori back. and I will get her back. After all, Tomorrow is another day….."

"Ok Scarlett, just remember dinner is at 6:30 don't be late and try not to mock your stepmothers cooking too much…."

"I PROMISE NOTHING! I have a stupid Latina to win back." Was the reply.

Mr. West simply shook his head and closed the door.

 **Sorry this chapter took so long. I sort of lost my mojo and really couldn't write. All writers have dry spells, I'm no exception. Please forgive me.**

 **Well, unexpectedly Mr. West, came and gave a pep talk to Jade, which seemed to do the trick. He had to step out of his comfort zone to do it, but did so because he knew his daughter needed the talk.**

 **So Jade will make an effort to make amends, will Tori be receptive. Time will tell.**


	21. Getting in

**Disclaimer: The show Victorious, its characters and other associated copyrights are property of someone else and not me.**

 **Unfairly Judged.**

 **Chapter 21 – Getting in.**

 **No One's POV**

Jade had thought about what she'd do for a day or so, feeling somewhat hopeful, but at the same time, thinking that hope is largely for fools.

Of course, would she even make it through he front door. Last time she came to apologize, Trina simply said Tori was out and then never told her she was there. It was just another thing to worry about.

She gradually came up with a plan and then set about putting it in motion.

About a week later Jade, having finally gotten up the courage and what else she needed, pulled up in front of the Vega home. It was a bright and sunny afternoon, which to anyone else, was fine. But to Jade, she couldn't help but think the sun was mocking her pain by making it bright and sunny, which she hated.

After taking a deep breath, she grabbed a bag and walked to the door.

"Hope is for fools" She muttered as she pressed the doorbell.

A few moments later, the door swung open to reveal none other than Trina Vega, whose curious expression quickly darkened.

"My this seems familiar." Quipped Trina.

"Can I talk to Tori, Please."

Instead of answering, Trina quickly began to close the door, but was stopped by the fact that Jade had put her foot in it.

"Go away you freak, you're not seeing Tori. This time she doesn't want to see you. After what you pulled, you rotten freak. Now get your foot out of the door."

"Come on, let me see her, I want to apologize."

"No. She told me she doesn't want to see you." Barked Trina as she pulled the door back open and glare at the Goth.

Prepared, Jade, reached into her bag and smirked, though nervously. "I'll make it worth your while."

Trina scoffed. "She's my sister and I'll never.…"

Trina immediately stopped in mid-sentence when Jade pulled out an open shoe box. Inside was a pair of purple and white sparkly high heels.

"Look at this Trina. Taylor Swift wore a pair identical to them just last week at the world music awards."

Trina however quickly gathered her composure and once again frowned.

"So what, you brought me a pair of designer shoes. I don't care if they are the latest Jimmy Choo's. You still won't see Tori. Now go away."

Moving the shoe box to the other hand, Jade then pulled out a matching clutch purse. "Now what's a pair of shoes without a matching purse."

For about ten seconds, Trina attempted to intensify her angry glare, but soon her lip began to quiver.

"They match?" Squeaked Trina. "And they're the latest and hottest."

"Certainly looks that way and they're yours if you ask for Tori, of course you won't tell her it's me. I want to actually come to the door."

"And that's all I have to do….."

"My aren't you sharp."

Trina held for about 3 seconds before snatching the purse and shoes out of Jade's hands. Then she turned and yelled up the stairs.

"Tori, some cute boy is here to speak with you!"

"It's your funeral Jade." Noted Trina as she took off up to her room leaving the door open.

Having bought her way in, Jade walked in, closed the door and did her best to not to act half as nervous and scared as she actually was.

However the sound of approaching footsteps, made that a bit harder as Jade had to put all her acting skills to work, just to not look like a total mess.

Just then Tori came bounding down the stairs.

The second she spotted Jade standing in the living room, she stopped dead in her tracks.

"You're not a cute boy? What the hell?"

"Much better."

"I told Trina not to let you in and….."

"I bribed her with a pair of Jimmy Choo shoes and matching purse, or at least that's what she thinks it is."

Her face quickly changing form angry to confused, Tori looked to the top of the stairs and then to Jade.

"You mean to tell me, you played on my sisters biggest weakness and they're not even real."

"No, you think I'd actually spend real money on that dingbat, I bought those out of the back of a van yesterday. Purse and shoes cost me all of 27 dollars. She assumed they were real after certain impressions I gave, I just never bothered to correct her. There cheap fakes, if those shoes last more than a week, I'll be very surprised, the purse too."

Tori quickly fumed and walked up to Jade. "How dare you, play on her like that and with cheap fakes. I have half a mind to tell her right now, you you….bitch."

"Except you're not going to tell her."

"And why won't I, Mrs. Smarty pants?"

"Cause, you're horribly annoyed with her that after all that's happened, she could be bought with a pair of cheap knock off shoes and a purse. So you'll keep your mouth shut and wait for those shoes to fall apart, probably on a date or some other important occasion. Cause you think it will serve her right for being so stupid as to trust me."

SLAP!

Even though Jade half expected the slap, it still stung rather hard. Jade was playing the part rather flippantly, but realized soon after that she may have overdone it.

"Look Jade! I don't know what your game is, but I've had enough humiliation. You stood by while your mother…." Tori who was getting more and more upset then simply pointed to the door.

"JUST GET THE FUCK OUT!"

"Please Tori, just let me talk." Jade responded, doing her best to hold back tears of shame and regret as her façade began to crumble.

Seeing tears well up in Jade's eyes, Tori was quick to assume it was another trick; another part of her performance. All she wanted to do was throw Jade out on her ass.

While all this was true, Tori found herself not doing that. At the time she didn't even know why. She had no reason to believe jade for a second. Instead she looked at the clock on the wall.

"You have 30 seconds."

Now beginning to shake and cry, Jade nodded. "Thank you. I wanted to apologize. I am sorry I let her say those things to you. I screwed up, let my issues ruin things between us. I can't explain what happened very easily. But I'd like to try…maybe fix things. My father and uncle have a cabin up in the mountains. It's very nice. I wanted to know if you'd like to come up a week from friday and then it would just be you and me. We could talk and maybe work it out. I promise I would explain everything, no secrets. You would have your own bedroom. If you didn't want to stay, you could leave at any time. It's very nice, has a fireplace, hot tub. I would pay for everything and you would be my guest."

Reaching into her bag, Jade pulled out a small picture in a frame. She then handed it to Tori.

"Here, it's a peace offering, something you'd really like."

Glancing down Tori could see it was an autographed picture of Katy Perry. On the picture were the words,

 _To Tori,_

 _Hope to see you on stage someday, making it shine._

 _Love Katy._

Then from her bag she extracted a pink microphone in a small clear plastic case. Along with it was a fancy looking sheet of paper, looking like some kind of certificate.

"Tori, this is the microphone Katy used in her last concert. I know you love her and I got both of these from a charity silent auction for a charity event to prevent childhood cancer. It was held a few days ago at the Hilton, downtown. One personalized autographed picture and one microphone. I have a certificate of authenticity signed, by the head of some local law firm. Please Tori, I'm sorry, I really want to make it up to you."

 **Jade's Pov**

For a moment, there was silence as Tori looked down at the items, carefully studying them. I had read about the auction the other day and realized they would be the perfect gifts for Tori. I paid a pretty penny, but I get a check each month from my trust fund.

I know that inviting her up to a cabin in the mountains is probably a dumb idea. But I thought if we got away from my mom, her sister and everyone else then we could talk. I'd feel comfortable talking about my mother and hopefully, I could explain it. I didn't lie, the cabin is very nice. It's jointly owned by my dad and my uncle.

Alone, I hoped we could get through this.

Some of the anger seemed to drain from Tori's face, but it remained very guarded. "They are very nice, thank you. I appreaciate the invite but I…..I just don't know. I may have to work and I think I have stuff going on. I just don't know."

I could tell that while she liked the gift, she just didn't seem interested. It was then I'd realized I had blown it, once and for all. All of a sudden, what little courage I had, seemed to fade away. I was the mighty Jade West once but no more and the worst part is, I had no one to blame but myself.

"Fine, Thank you for listening. I am sorry. I'll be going. I'll call you, give you directions if you still want to come." I said in a fading voice.

Before Tori, could say another word, I turned and left.

My father's pep talk, made me want to try and win Tori back, but I just couldn't do it. Granted I shouldn't just hide away in my room doing nothing, I had to do something. Perhaps I needed to just find another game to play.

So I decided to do something productive and begin to write again. Over the course of the next week, I wrote like a person possessed. The idea's just flowed and within a week I had a story and a short film written. They were all horror stories, sad and tragic but my pain helped.

I didn't try and call Tori, what was the point? I know I was so determined, but for all my bravado, if she didn't want to come, she didn't want to come. It's not like me, but what is me anyway. I'm one person when I'm with Tori, one person when I'm without. I want to be the person I am, when I'm with Tori, but that's gone.

Finally the weekend came for my trip to the cabin. I would be alone, but perhaps, the change of scenery would inspire some more stories. Then I could think about my future plans. Do I want to continue at Hollywood Arts? What kind of person do I want to be, what kind of person can I be.

So Friday afternoon I packed up my car and made the drive, arriving just before dinner. I had stopped and gotten a few meager groceries and immediately set about making myself a salad.

Sitting alone eating my dinner, on the patio, as the sun began to sank behind the mountains, I couldn't help but realize how beautiful it was. But I had no one to share it with, so what difference would it make.

"Hope is for fools" I mused, believing it more than ever.

A knock at the front door, rattled me from my thoughts. I quickly guessed it was one of my college aged cousins, and his friends crashing my weekend. It's happened before. Pissed by the disturbance, I got up and flung open the door.

"It's my weekend and the cabin is mine!" I said loudly to the figure in the doorway.

Except it wasn't one of my cousins, it was Tori, holding a large bag and a somewhat weary expression.

"You never called, am I still invited."

Stunned, all I could do was nod.


	22. Getting situated

**Disclaimer: The show Victorious, its characters and other associated copyrights are property of someone else and not me.**

 **Unfairly Judged.**

 **Chapter 22 – Getting situated.**

 **No one's POV.**

Though very surprised at the appearance of the Latina in her doorway, Jade moved aside to allow Tori in; only Tori didn't move.

Instead she remained steadfastly in the doorway, with a weary but somewhat critical expression.

"Jade, this is for real. You want to work things out?"

Nervous and surprised, Jade found some of her inherent gawkiness unexpectedly leaking out. "No, I need someone kill a spider. I figure the sight of you would scare it off."

"Fuck you Jade!" Hissed Tori, with a surprising amount of venom in what otherwise sounded like a weary voice.

Before she could move to walk way, Jade grabbed her wrist and quickly apologized. "I'm sorry, I didn't meant that. Please. I'm a gank when I shouldn't be sometimes. I'm glad you came. I mean it honest."

For a moment Tori thought over Jade's apology and then relaxed, making no effort to leave the doorway. Only then did Jade let go.

"Jade, before I come in, I need to give you a message from my father. He told me to give it to you. It was the only way he'd allow me to come."

"Go ahead?"

Tori stood firm and said with a voice tinged with harshness, "It is, that if this is any kind of trick, deception or if the purpose of me coming here was for the purpose of any kind of retaliation or humiliation, you will hear from him and you will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, if and where applicable. That's assuming I don't cut your throat first. Do you understand?"

Jade looked to the floor for a moment, before nodding. It was obvious to Jade, Tori weren't in the mood to fool around or be kidded. Not to mention the last thing she wanted to do was to make Tori leave. So she said a soft and heartfelt, "Yes."

Only then did Tori come through the doorway, carrying her bag.

As Jade closed the door behind her, Tori found herself in a small entryway with several coat hooks and a small closet. Not stopping there, she continued on into a large room.

It was obviously the main living area and was carpeted with thick dark green carpeting and furnished with several overstuffed leather chairs, a large leather couch and a dining room table near the far wall.

To her right, dominating the wall was a large stone fireplace, which at the moment was cold and dark. To the right of the fireplace was a bookshelf filled with games and various books. It seemed like stuff people would use to simply pass the time.

On the other side of the fireplace, in the corner, sat a 40" large screen tv, with a stereo, which like the fireplace, was silent and dark.

In front of her, just in front of the dining room table, dominating the room was large picture window, with brown curtains, with a breathtaking view of the valley below. Next to the window was a sliding glass door to the patio just outside.

To her immediate left was a small hallway, which Tori guessed led to the bedrooms and up ahead on the left, was an open area leading to the kitchen.

The room had a rustic feel, with pictures of nature scenes on the wall and that killer view, but as she put her bag on the floor, Tori's only concern.

"I'm here."

"Thank you for coming." Jade said, still looking rather humbled. "I didn't give you directions, how did you find this place."

"Your father."

Jade raised an eyebrow, looking slightly alarmed. "What? You spoke to my father?"

"Don't get your panties in a bunch?" Snapped Tori "He didn't seek me out. I got a job with a caterer. We do weddings, parties, corporate events, that sort of thing. I was working a party for Hitchkock Engineering last week. It was for some sort of new product launch. While refilling water glasses, I encountered your father. He said he does some consulting with them and got invited to the party."

Pausing, Tori quickly took note of both Jade's apprehensive expression and the good deal of tension in the air.

"What did he say?"

"He said he heard that you had invited me up to the cabin and simply urged me to go, so I could at least hear your side."

"What else did he tell you?"

"Not much. He said that it would be better coming from you, but he did note that you were quite broken up about what happened and that your relationship with your mother is rather toxic. I told him I wasn't sure, to be honest. He said he understood and ultimately left it up to me, but said you were worth it. I told him I would think about it. He wrote the directions down on a sheet of paper for me, in case I decided to go."

For a moment Jade remained quiet, and then nodded. "Again, I'm glad you came."

"Just don't make me regret it. That and I are partially at fault too."

"Are you hungry? I just made some salad."

Tori shook her head. "No, I ate on the way up here. All I want now is a bed. I worked the Linderman Wedding last night and then Arx Consulting's, family party today at the zoo. I had to take an extra shift today, to have the next few days off. Then I drove straight from work, 2 and half hours up here. I'm exhausted and now is probably not the best time to speak with me. I can be grouchy and tired too. All I want to do is sleep. So if you could, please take me to my room."

Not wanting to push her luck, Jade quickly lead Tori down the side hallway, until she reached the first door. Pushing it open, she directed Tori inside.

The room was a small bedroom, decorated with slightly faded, yellow wallpaper covered with pictures of people at the cabin having a good time. Off to one side was a large queen sized bed, with a large quilt on top. On the other side was a small wooden dresser, and nightstand with lamp, next to the bed.

"There's a small closet in the corner. Bathroom's down the hall. There's a linen closet next to the bathroom with, towels, washcloths, soap and shampoo. Use whatever you need. My bedroom is the next room, if you need anything during the night, just knock. Is this good enough for you?"

Nodding, Tori walked in the room and deposited her large bag on the bed.

"I'll leave alone for now, but I promise you, we'll talk, have fun and work this all out."

Too tired to really give her response thought, Tori mumbled, "Whatever" and went about pulling her sleeping clothes from her bag. She didn't notice, Jade walk away, with a look of distinct disappointment and worry.

Tori didn't even bother to unpack. All she did was put on her sleeping clothes, wash her make up off in the bathroom and walk back to her room, closing the door behind her. She was both mentally and physically worn out and sleep was the only thing on her mind.

Tori quickly moved her bag to the dresser and climbed in bed. She was first struck by how utterly silent it was. At home there was always noise, be it her sister singing off key in the next room or just plain city noises. Tori however, didn't have time to really consider it, as sleep quickly claimed her.

Awaking some time later, Tori realized that the sun had gone down and the only light in the room was a few thin moonbeams that managed to cut through the trees. Combined with the silence, the room began to look and feel very eerie.

Curious as to how long she'd been asleep, as she went to bed around 6:30 PM, she picked up her phone and looked at the time.

It was 2:14 in the morning.

Though still tired, she did feel measurably better than she did when she arrived; extremely exhausted and horribly crabby.

Turning over in attempt to go back to sleep, she suddenly became aware of a dim sound.

"Squeak"

Not expecting the sound, Tori's eyes opened wide as she suddenly snapped fully awake. Of course no sooner had she done that, the sound came again.

"Squeak"

Her fear level rising, Tori sat up and looked all about the room. Though she couldn't see much, but what light there was, revealed that she was alone.

But the sound came again, and a few seconds after that.

Resisting the urge to freak out, Tori listened carefully and sure enough she was rewarded with the same muffled squeak. It happened a few seconds later and only then did Tori realize the sound was happening about every 3-4 seconds.

Listening to it a few more times, she determined that the sound was not getting closer and it seemed to be coming from the other side of the wall.

"That's where Jade's room is." Thought Tori.

Still half scared, but curious, Tori got up and listened at the wall. The sound continued as it did, but a bit clearer. Only then did she realize it was the sound of a squeaky floorboard; one being stepped on at very regular intervals.

"What the?" Whispered Tori.

Standing there in the dark, Tori could only wonder what Jade was doing. Was this some sort of prank? Some attempt to unnerve her in her sleep?

Her fear was quickly replaced by anger as Tori suddenly decided to confront Jade once and for all. This had to be some game and Tori was not going to have one part of it.

Throwing on her robe, Tori flung open the door and emerged into the hallway. Down the hall she could see Jade's door was open a small crack and a thin stream of light darted down the hallway.

She walked down the carpeted hallway to the door, and was about to burst in when she heard Jade say in a low voice.

"Don't mess this up."

Pausing, Tori quickly peered into the room.

There was Jade, wearing black sweats and a t-shirt, pacing back and forth. Not just pacing, but pacing worriedly. Her furrowed brow alone, was more than enough to tell Tori Jade was troubled. She was so troubled, Tori realized she Jade hadn't even noticed the dull squeak, she was making as she crossed the floor over and over.

"This is your last chance Jade." Muttered the Goth to herself. "Don't be such a gank. You had to make that stupid spider crack. Stupid mother, fucking everything up. I hope you choke to death on one of your stupid martinis"

Realizing that Jade was stressing out due to the fact that she wanted things to work out so badly and not playing a joke, Tori suddenly felt like an utter shit.

Again, Tori could hear Jade's low voice. "What if she doesn't listen?"

Again she had jumped to a wrong conclusion. She was tempted to sneak back to bed, but tired as she still was, she couldn't leave Jade this way.

So she knocked on the door.

Abruptly she could hear Jade stop mumbling and a second later, the door flew open. At first Jade looked annoyed, but before saying anything, her expression morphed to embarrassment then back to annoyance.

"Do you need something Tori?"

"I heard you moving around. One of your floorboards is squeaky."

For a moment, Jade's face flushed with embarrassment. "Sorry. I'll stop."

Tori shook her head. "No Jade. I need to apologize. I was really tried when got here earlier and a bit of a bitch. It was uncalled for, not to mention me assuming just now, you were making that spooky noise to freak me out."

Jade nodded rather soberly. "I would do something like that. And don't worry about being tired…."

Tori quickly stopped Jade. "No Jade. I heard you just now. You're worried I won't listen. Yes my feelings are still really hurt and I still don't fully understand, but I will listen and I do want this to work out. I don't want us to keep hurting each other. I have stuff to apologize for as well. That's why I came. I got things off on the wrong foot by being a bitch and that was wrong. Don't worry, I want this too. That and I'm sorry for eavesdropping."

Only then did Jade's expression of annoyance, melt away to one of slight relief. "Thank you."

"Now stop pacing and go to sleep. It's spooky and freaking me out."

"I will Vega." Jade said, with the slightest hint of a smirk. "Do you need anything else?"

Shaking her head, Tori moved off. "No. Good night."

"Night Vega."

Moments later Tori was in her bed, the sound in the next room was gone and she hoped Jade would be able to sleep easier, knowing she really wanted to work things out. Tori knew she'd sleep easier knowing Jade felt the same way.

 **Not much happens in this chapter as I'm still having some problems writing. But I do hope you liked the chapter.**

 **More to come.**

 **Want to hear something funny. I wrote a Victorious/Quantum Leap Crossover a few years back. It's called "When is Jade not Jade." It's a good story I recommend it. But that's not the funny part. In the story, Jade finds herself in the year 2021 and picks up a 2016 entertainment magazine. In it Jade reads about the wedding of Taylor Swift and an unnamed person, who's ex wife was named Angelina. I'm talking about Brad Pitt of course. The funny thing is that I managed to predict the end of Brad and Angelina's marriage 4 years before it happened. Not that it was a giant surprise. But I wrote the story in 2012. Now all I need is Taylor swift to pick up with Brad and My prediction will be dead on. Wouldn't it be funny. She seems to go through guys pretty quickly, so its a distinct possibility.**


	23. Dark Lady

**Disclaimer: The show Victorious, its characters and other associated copyrights are property of someone else and not me.**

 **Unfairly Judged.**

 **Chapter 23 – Dark Lady**

 **Tori's Pov**

I woke up a little after 9 am, feeling a lot better than I did when I arrived. I should feel better, considering I had slept more than 12 hours. As I crawled from bed, stretched and shook of the last of sleep, I suddenly realized I could smell bacon.

Following my nose, I walked out of my room and down to the kitchen, where I found Jade, in the middle of scrambling some eggs. She was wearing black shorts, a plain black t-shirt,and some sort of black apron with writing on it that I could not quite read. That was all well and normal for Jade, but the sight of her cooking took me slightly aback.

As she cooked, not noticing my presence, she sang along to a radio in the corner that was playing an oddly fitting song, "Dark Lady" by Cher.

 _"Dark Lady laughed and danced and lit the candles one by one_ _  
 _Danced to her gypsy music till her brew was done_  
 _Dark Lady played back magic till the clock struck on the twelve_  
 _She told me more about me than I knew myself"__

Suddenly noticing me, her face briefly flushed red with embarrassment, before quickly scowling.

However, before she could speak, I remarked. "I thought you hated cooking, you mentioned it in, what Jade hates, video #17."

Jade looked mildly impressed for a moment as she glanced at me, before returning her attention to egg's, cooking in front of her.

"Lots of people know how to do things they hate." Quipped Jade, as she took a pair of tongs and flipped one of the pieces of bacon over that were frying in a pan next to the eggs.

"I was going to surprise you by having it all ready, but you screwed it up by waking too soon." Added Jade.

She was making breakfast for me, which was rather flattering. "Thank you. Do you want me to help?"

Jade then turned to me, revealing her apron which in big red letters said. _"I poisoned the food, DIE MUTHERFUCKERS."_

"No! Get cleaned up, you're my guest, we've got a lot to talk about and I want to start this day out right, by me doing something for you. Breakfast will be ready in 15 minutes. Now get out of my hair."

A lot did need to be discussed and not wanting to ruin Jade's gesture, I turned and headed towards the bathroom. 15 minutes wasn't enough time to shower, but it gave me time to wash up and put on some clean sweats.

By the time I had emerged, Jade had breakfast ready to go on the large table in front of the picture window. The food looked quite good and with the incredible view of the mountains.

"What's for breakfast?"

Jade motioned for me to sit down. "Scrambled eggs, with cheddar cheese, bacon, toast and hash browns. Coffee and orange juice of course."

It was only after I had sat down, did I realized that Jade had sat at the other end of the long table, despite the fact that there were several chairs that were closer. I guess this physical distance mirrors the emotional distance between us.

Looking up at Jade, I could see she had quietly started to eat, looking only at the food sitting on her plate.

Not wanting my food to get cold I started to eat myself.

We spend the next several minutes eating in an increasingly awkward silence broken only by the occasional clink of a fork against a plate. ,

"The food's really good. Thank you." I said.

"Welcome."

We ate for a bit longer, when Jade looked up and said. "A bit of bad news. The weather said that the remains of Tropical storm Clarissa, has changed direction and is headed this way. We're under a severe thunderstorm watch starting at 5:00 pm. They said it could be a bad storm. I was going to take you out for dinner, but I'd hate to get caught in a storm. Granted I like storms, but not driving in them. So, I'll make some spaghetti and meatballs instead. I just need run into town and get some stuff a bit later."

"That will be fine, thanks."

It was strange, us eating in silence, reminded me of some old married couple who's long run out of things to say to each other. To be honest, I know we had a lot to work out, but I really didn't know how to begin.

Finally, just as I was finishing my eggs, I had an idea.

"Jade?"

The Goth took a bite of toast and looked up. "Yes."

I was a bit nervous about how Jade would react, but I went for it. "I know we have a lot to work out, but at the moment, neither of us appears to be saying anything. Perhaps like me, you just don't know how to start. Maybe even a bit scared. Am I right?"

Jade nodded.

"I was thinking just now, perhaps we need to know where we want to go first. See if it's the same place. Let me ask you. Assuming we work things out, what do you want; Ultimately to come out of this."

Jade leaned back in her chair and looked out the window for a moments at mountain valley below. Turning back to me, she weakly smiled. "Tori, I can't stop thinking about you. Not just how pretty you are, or how upbeat you are, it's everything. I just want to be around you. To put it simply, a long term relationship. But let's face it, the term girlfriend is just a label. And I hate labels, they say so little."

Jade then paused as if she was searching for the right words or perhaps for some measure of courage. I said nothing and continued to listen intently.

Jade then cleared her throat and looked right into my eyes. In that moment I could see a vulnerability that I had never seen before. "I want….I want to be someone's world. I want that person to be mine. I want someone who will adore me, even when I'm not adorable."

The statement was actually very touching and I think made my heart skip a beat or two. Jade was really endeavoring to show her sensitive side to me. She looked like she wanted to say more but I sensed she just didn't have the strength to

"I like that, a lot." I said, allowing myself to hope things could work out.

"Good, what about you?"

I began to speak, but found my voice quivering slightly. Now I was nervous. "Well, a long term relationship is what I want. But like you said, the term girlfriend is just a word, a label. I want someone who holds my hand when I'm walking with them, not just because it's nice, but because they won't feel right not holding my hand. I want someone who when I see them smile, I feel wonderful. How's that for a job description?"

Jade nodded and continued, sounding rather serious. "Well at least on that, it sounds like we're on the same page; a deep personal bond. But getting there, won't be easy. We've already had several….bumps in the road."

"But we're still here. Most normal people would have called it quits and moved on by now."

"Are you saying we're not normal?" Replied Jade with a raised eyebrow as she drained her cup of coffee."

Tori shrugged. "Certain accusations have been made."

"Fair enough."

"Jade, you've already made an effort to apologize, though we need to discuss it further, but I think it's time for me to apologize. I reacted badly, to your mothers…insults. I felt alone, unsupported…."

I let that last word hang for a moment and perhaps with a bit of bitterness, but I couldn't help it. I quickly continued, forcing myself back into apology mode.

"In any case, me loosing my temper, what I said, was uncalled for, regardless of the circumstances. It hurt your mother, it hurt you and it hurt us. I am sorry.

Jade finished the last of her toast and nodded. ""We hurt each other, there's no escaping that, an apology wouldn't be enough to get past this, so maybe when we're ready to forgive each other we also will be able to trust each other and fully this time. It will take time but I'm willing to go the distance."

Surprisingly, I felt a load off my shoulders.

"Jade, it's more than just that. Lets face it I have both trust and anger issues and more than once that has caused problems. Again I'm sorry. "

"Putting the anger aside for a moment, you still don't fully trust me."

"Is that a question or a statement?"

Jade quickly smirked in reply. "Just say it Tori. We'll never get anywhere without honesty."

"I want to, more than anything, but I still don't fully. As evidenced by my assumption that your pacing was something deliberate to freak me out."

Just saying that, made me feel terrible. I know it's not what Jade wanted to hear. Here I am, supposed to fix things.

"Thank you for your honesty. I expected that and….let's face it, I've done my share to make you not trust me. Beck told me that sometimes I'm too good of an actress. In reference to you're the song you heard me singing to earlier, perhaps I played the part of the Dark lady just too well. "

"Not a part I'd want to play too long, you remember what happens to her in the end of the song."

Jade nodded. "Shot for sleeping with someone else's husband."

"I was honest, so be honest with me. It hurts you that I don't trust you. You feel pain."

"Yes, I want you to trust me, but I know it's partially my fault. "

We finished breakfast and cleaned up, all the while talking about the nature of trust. We talked about how it's gained, how it's lost and how there are many different levels of trust. While the conversation was mostly general, Jade admitted that me not believing her when she first asked me out, hurt her quite badly. But a lot of that was also wrapped up in guilt for how she had treated me.

I told her that I felt terrible about that and continue to feel terrible about my inability to fully trust her.

Ultimately she told me that in the end, she hoped that I would one day come to trust her completely but realizes that won't' be easy as after all she was Jade. She also said that there was pain but she would bear it.

After breakfast was cleaned up, we moved to the patio and sat down where the conversation turned to my temper.

"Jade, I not only have trust issues, but a bit of a fiery Latina temper."

Almost immediately, Jade shook her head. "There's no such thing."

"Huh?"

"A Latina temper or Latin temper. Yes, you're a Latina, yes you have a bit of a temper, but they really don't have much, if anything to do with each other. You being Latina, doesn't make you more inherently angry or subject to being angry, than being Irish makes you a drunk."

"I never really thought of it that way."

"Sure, different cultures approach emotional displays in different ways, but I think, linking your Latina ancestry with your emotional states isn't' something you should do. It's a poor stereotype."

"Just who are you? You're sounding awfully rational." I said with a suspicious look.

"I can, be when I want to be."

"So you have a temper, it's just who you are. I get mad too. Just try to work it out in more productive ways. "

"But I hurt you, I punched you in the face." I said, feeling a surge of guilt.

Jade scrunched her face. "Yes, let's not remind me of that."

I stood up. "No, I was thinking I don't want this to hang over our head. I'll be right back."

I ran into my room and picked up a very small box and returned to the patio.

"What's that?" Asked Jade

Opening the box, I pulled out a boxers mouth guard. "I hit you in the face, so I want you to hit me in the face. This is to make sure you don't break my teeth. I thought of this yesterday morning. I didn't hurt your teeth. I want it to be the same for me as it was for you."

Jade stood up and looked at me as if I'd lost my mind. "You want me to hit you."

"Yes" I said with determination. "So we can be 100% even and this can never come between us again."

"In the face?"

"Yes."

I put the mouth guard in and stood ready for the punch.

"In the face? Really Vega?"

I nodded and pointed to my jaw.

Jade shrugged, "Ok then."

I could see Jade start to move her arm back and right then I braced myself for the hit to the Jaw.

Right then, Jade threw her punch.

Right into my stomach.

I was expecting a hit to the face, not the stomach. Almost instantly the wind was knocked out of me and I quickly crumpled to the ground.

Jade quickly helped me up and helped into a chair. All I could say, as I tried to catch my breath was.

"What?"

"You see Vega. I hit you in the stomach for three reasons. First, you said you wanted it to be the same. I wasn't expecting to be hit in the face, you were. So I hit you in the stomach, where you weren't expecting it. Second, I happen to like that pretty face of yours and would hate to leave a mark on it and hitting you in the Jaw, certainly would. Third, you come home with a bruise on your face, your father will probably just shoot me. So I'm sorry, I know we talked about the whole trust thing, but it was the only way. I do feel better."

As much as I hate to say it, Jade was right.

"Tell you what, you like nature, There's a trail not far from here. We've got a few hours before the storm comes in. Once you catch your breath, we'll do some walking. Just walking. Enjoy the scenery and each other. We can talk more later. Sound good? Dark Lady promises to be good."

It was an odd way to start a day, but all things considered, we were on the right track. So I nodded yes.

 **The lyrics to the song "Dark Lady" by Cher were used without permission.**

 **Thanks to Invader Johnny.**


	24. Out with it

**Disclaimer: The show Victorious, its characters and other associated copyrights are property of someone else and not me.**

 **Unfairly Judged.**

 **Chapter 24 – Out with it.**

 **Tori's Pov**

After catching my breath, we went inside and got ready for the day. Jade let me have the bathroom first to shower. About an hour and a half later, we were both showered, dressed and put on makeup. Not much was said during this time. Again we acted like this old couple who had long run out of things to say. That worries me.

On the other hand, while Jade looked her normal self, her demeanor seemed to cover up anxiety and nerve or so I thought. She has a story, one that haunts her I'll bet and she has to tell it. We'll go nowhere if she doesn't. Let's see if she can, I'll give her time.

We got in Jade's car and headed off. It was already cloudy and through the trees, I could see dark clouds on the distant horizon.

"Storms coming in." I noted.

Jade nodded with half a glance at the approaching storm. "Yeah, probably start rolling in mid to late afternoon. It's only about 11:30 now. We'll walk for a bit, grab some lunch at a little diner nearby and get the stuff for dinner tonight. There's a little store near the diner. We'll be home long before the storm gets here."

After about 10 minutes driving through the winding mountain roads, we came across a small state park. We parked in the nearly empty lot and after getting out, Jade pointed to the beginning of a trail marked with a blue sign.

"The blue trail is about a 40 minute walk and is considered easy. There are others, but their longer and more rugged terrain."

"Sounds good."

We started down the trail which led through forested area in a small but beautiful valley. We even had the trail to ourselves, save for an older couple who appeared to be bird watching. So we walked, mostly in silence. It was relaxing and very scenic, but all the while we kept walking, I could still feel the tension and unease between us.

Once and a while, Jade could comment on some natural feature that she wanted me to see; a patch of beautiful wildflowers or an unusual rock formation. They were things I doubt she'd care about, but she was obviously pointing them out as she thought I would like them.

It was nice just spending time with Jade, but like the darkening clouds above me, a cloud still hung over us. What was her story, my still hurt feelings, all those still came into play. If Jade wouldn't talk about it, why she let her mother hurt me, than that was it.

After some 40 minutes we finished our walk, coming back out onto the parking it. I thanked Jade and she drove me into the local small town where we had some lunch. Jade talked more, but it was just mindless small talk about our friends.

Jade paid for lunch and afterward we stopped at a small store to buy the fixings for dinner. By then I found myself getting a bit impatient about Jade talking to me. I really wanted to know, I really wanted to get to the bottom of this. At the same time, I had to let Jade open up about it without me forcing her. I resolved myself to try and calm down, enjoy the day and let Jade talk when she wanted. It wasn't easy, but I would.

 **No One's POV**

Jade all afternoon had been wrestling with what to say and how to say it. For her it was a hard thing to talk about, but Jade feared that Tori would accept her reasons. Driving home from the store, Jade worried that Tori would eventually grow impatient.

"Would she leave, give up for good?" Thought Jade, with a nervous bite of her lip.

By the time Jade and Tori got home, Jade was having a harder and harder time hiding her anxiety. After the groceries were put away, she busied herself, by putting all the patio furniture in the storage shed, so it wouldn't be damaged or blown away by the approaching storm. Normally she wouldn't give a damn about patio furniture, but letting it be damaged would cause her to not get access to the cabin.

Taking one last look at the menacing, dark clouds which seemed to be rolling in faster than ever, Jade turned and came inside.

Inside she found Tori sitting on the couch, appearing to be deep in thought.

"We're all secure outside. The wind is starting to pick up and I think the rain will start soon. It looks to be a nasty one."

"That's good."

And then nothing.

For several seconds neither spoke, instead looking at each other with a strange sense of unease.

Finally, Jade sighed and sat down in one of the chairs. "You deserve an explanation."

"For letting me twist in the wind, while your mother insulted me."

Beginning to look profoundly sad, Jade nodded.

"Jade" Tori said, with a near steely gaze as she let her feelings go. "I need to say this and I'm not going to apologize for saying it. Since I've arrived at Hollywood Arts, you've done things and said things in an attempt to hurt my feelings. But none of those things even compares to how badly I felt, how much you hurt me, when you did and said nothing. I'm not saying I'm perfect, or I haven't screwed up here, but you really hurt me. Ok, I've said my peace. Now talk."

For a moment Jade remained deathly quiet as she looked way from Tori to the dark clouds that could be seen approaching.

"My mom…..for her, it's always a competition. To be the prettiest, most admired, most adored. If you're not the prettiest, you're nothing, a phrase that she pounded into my head as a young girl. At first it was a competition between her and her sister, for their parents affection that sort of thing. But her sister died and let's face it, no one can compare to a sweet, dead, little girl."

As Jade continued to speak, all the while looking outside, Tori sat down.

"My mom became interested in pageants. In fact she thrived in them. Where else, is looking the prettiest more important. She won a number of them in her teen years, finally becoming Miss California while in college. She was beautiful, she made appearances, was in parades, got fan mail, proposals; everyone loved her. Then she reached the pinnacle, the Miss USA pageant. She was sure she was going to win."

"I take it she didn't?"

Jade shook her head. "Second runner up. She was devastated. She did a bit of modeling after that, but reasons I don't know, stopped. After school she never got a job, just shopped, vacationed and spent money. She's beautiful and can be quite charming and witty, when she wants to be and eventually she chose my father over her other suitors. Soon I was born. My dad was gone a lot in those days, doing lots of consulting overseas. He'd be gone for weeks at a time. So it was me, a series of nannies, cooks and a servant or two."

Jade stopped and looked to Tori, only to see what she guessed, was an expression of someone who didn't look particularly satisfied by what they were hearing. However, she could see Tori was still listening intently. Putting aside her increasing anxiety, Jade continued.

"She would always tell me that unless you're the prettiest, you're nothing. As a little girl, she would dress me up in all kinds of cute dresses. She'd parade me around to her friends like I was some kind of prop in a play. All just to enhance her reputation: have and adorable kid, you get adored yourself. All this just to feed her fragile ego. But eventually, I realized I didn't like wearing frilly dresses. But I was too young to speak out. Eventually when I was around the age of 5, my mother told me she was going to start putting me in pageants. She would show me tapes of pageants and signed me up for dance and ballet lessons. She was relentless about it, preparing me. All the while she would keep telling me, If' you're not the prettiest, you're nothing. "

Pausing as she held back tears, took a deep breath and ran her hands through her hair.

"I hated all of this. I liked strange things like bugs and playing with my play scissors. But I went along with it. One day however, I had enough, I don't' even know why. I got home from Ballet class and I spoke up for the first time. I told her I hated pageants and didn't want to be in one. That being the prettiest was stupid and she was stupid. I'll always remember that day. I was in my room when I said it. I even told her that she was ugly and mean."

"Then what?" Said Tori, after a noticeable pause.

Choking up, Jade replied. "This is a woman who lived to be adored. She blew her top and began to scream at me. Told me I was an ungrateful brat. It was then my dog, Soda Pop, a little Boston Terrier began to bark at my mother. In a fit of rage, she grabbed the dog and left me with the nanny. She returned an hour later, carrying only Soda Pop's collar. She threw it to me and said. Don't you ever talk back to me again."

"What happened to the dog?"

Now visibly crying, Jade continued. "Where's my dog? I asked. She said, naughty little ugly girls don't get nice things or pets. I had him put to sleep. He's dead! Talk back like that and I'll have your Cat put to sleep. Now you will do what you're told, participate in the pageants and win. Do you hear me. You'll be nothing otherwise, NOTHING! I loved that dog, he was only a puppy. I got him for my 4th birthday. He slept on my bed every night. I had a cat too, but that dog was special. I was devastated. I cried for almost 2 days straight. My mom told my dad, soda pop bit her. He believed her and I didn't contradict her, I was too scared of her. I continued with my lessons and every time I spoke, up she threatened to put my cat asleep. She would constantly hold that above my head. I could never talk back to her again, I could never speak up to her again. I was too afraid. It continued like that for a few months, when my father, filed for divorce. He sued for custody and my mom really didn't put up a fight. I only saw her infrequently after that. Even after she left, I could never get up the courage to speak back to her, the works always got caught in my throat."

Tori feeling terrible about Jade's loss, stood up and was about speak when Jade suddenly exploded. "I loved that dog. I loved it and I stood up to my mother now it's dead, cause of ME. I can't speak up to her, I simply can't and and you just think I'm lying, telling a story. Another trick, another lie to deceive you. I know it, you don't believe me, that I don't have feelings, that I can't love anything or anyone. So FUCK YOU!"

"I NEVER SAID THAT!" Shot Back Tori.

Jade, now sobbing hysterically, just turned and started to walk towards the bedrooms. Before she could get 2 feet, Tori grabbed her by the hand and pulled her into a tight embrace.

But embrace at first wasn't well received as Jade struggled and raged.

"Let me go, you BITCH! You don't believe me. Screw You!" Ranted Jade as she fought desperately to free herself from Tori's embrace.

Tori, upset herself and feeling horribly not only for Jade, about all that she had done, held on as tight as she could.

Jade kept struggling, ranting, cursing, but Tori just held on and said in a soft voice over and over. "I believe you. I like you. You are beautiful."

Eventually, Jade's struggles slowed and her curses were replaced by emotional sobs. Finally Jade simply melted and cried on Tori's shoulder.

"I'm so sorry Tori. She took my dog away and when she started to yell at you, I freaked out, flashed back. I can't talk back to her…"

At this point Jade was so emotionally overwrought, she could no longer speak. All she did was cry and let herself be held.

 **I hoped you like this chapter, things are finally coming out.**

 **Thanks to Invader Johnny.**

 **I feel the need to say this. I'm American and on behalf of My people, I want to apologize for Donald Trump's election. I didn't vote for him, I voted for Hilary and think Trumps a very vile person.** **Everyone needs to stand up and let him and his braindead followers that they won't stand for his garbage.**


	25. The Night the lights went out in Georgia

**Disclaimer: The show Victorious, its characters and other associated copyrights are property of someone else and not me.**

 **Unfairly Judged.**

 **Chapter 25 – The night the lights went out in Georgia.**

 **Tori's POV.**

It was a nearby rumble of thunder that momentarily distracted me from the sobbing Goth in my arms. I could see it had already begun to rain and that storm wasn't approaching any longer, it was here. Jade didn't seem to notice, in fact she actually sort of slumped in my arms.

What Jade's mother did was horrible; this must have completely traumatized her. Killing a little girls dog, because of all this. Besides being distraught, I sensed she was exhausted. After all, she was up late last night.

"Jade, you're upset and tired. You need to rest."

I half expected to protest, but she didn't. Instead she half nodded and let me walk her to her bedroom. She didn't say anything, all she did was cry hysterically.

Once in her room, I laid her down and she quickly half curled up on her side. Then I took of her shoes and as I was about to lay the blanket over her, I stopped.

I couldn't leave her alone. I simply couldn't. She had shown me the most private and painful thing in her life; all just to convince me that she really had feelings for me. I doubt she had told anyone. She needed to be comforted.

Quickly kicking off my shoes, I somewhat nervously climbed into bed with her. She was on her side, so I crawled up behind her and spooned her. Though not as tightly as I could as I wanted to give her a bit of space. Then I pulled the blanket on both of us and wrapped my arm around her. I shouldn't be nervous, but we'd never slept tighter and she is in a very emotional state.

Much to my relief, she moved herself a bit closer to me and took my hand.

It was odd, as at the moment I wasn't thinking about sex, despite the fact that we were in bed together. All I could think about was making her feel loved. Yes, I know love is a strong word and I can't say that I love her, at least right now, but she needs this. Though I will say it felt nice, very nice.

It took her almost a half an hour but she cried herself to sleep. In that time, she only said one thing.

"Soda pop"

The name of her dog, obviously. She must really miss it.

For a while I lay there, holding her, listening contrast between her soft breathing and the storm raging outside. Occasionally, I'd let go of her hand and gently stroke her hair, enjoy the smell of it. I was a lesbian laying with another woman for the very first time. Not the best of circumstances of course, but never before did I feel so complete. It wasn't even about sex. It was about being with someone I deeply care about. Someone who needed me and realizing for the first time, that I need her too. It was a closeness that I had never felt before.

Jade laid there, oblivious to all of this, in a deep sleep. Though I wasn't overly tired, I eventually drifted off myself. A nearby crack of thunder woke me about 2 hours later. Jade remained asleep.

I tried to go back to sleep, but couldn't and soon became restless. It was still a new thing and one I wasn't totally used too. So I got up, covered Jade with the blanket and returned to the living room.

Looking outside, it was raining pretty hard with lots of wind and thunder. A pretty good show, for those who like storms. It was almost dinner time, so I sat down for a bit, relaxed and thought about all that had happened. Around 5:30, Jade was still asleep, so I started to make dinner on my own. It was just spaghetti, so I could do that."

I got down to business and when I was just about done, I suddenly realized I was alone. In an near reverse of this morning, I looked up and saw Jade standing in the doorway.

Her hair was messed up and she looked somewhat ragged and she simply stood there looking at me with an unreadable expression.

I suddenly began to wonder if I had overstepped my bounds or she felt that I had taken advantage of her.

"All I need to do is drain the water from the pasta and dinner will be ready. You can see the table's all set. I made the meatballs a bit spicy. Hope you don't mind." I said, with a nervous squeak to my voice.

"I'm sorry." Said Jade as she walked into the room

"Sorry for what?"

"Screaming at you, calling you a bitch. God knows how many other things."

Looking into her eyes, I could really see the regret, the pain and I knew she was telling the truth. This time I didn't doubt her for a second.

"It's ok. You've been through a lot. I didn't know. I'm sorry too…."

"Your suspicion was justified."

"That and earlier…grabbing you….crawling into bed with you. Not sure…"

I never got to finish my sentence as Jade suddenly pulled me into an embrace and kissed me. Not just any kiss, it was a wonderful slow tender kiss. It was so wonderful and full of feeling and I think for a second, I blacked out due to happiness.

Finally as she broke the kiss, she smiled. "You were there for me, even when I didn't want you. You held on and didn't let go, no matter how much I lashed out at you. You told me I was beautiful and held me when I cried. Held me and made me feel special, more special than everyone ever in my life. Don't ever, apologize for that Tori Vega or I'll kick your ass…."

Dazed, my mouth fell open and all I managed to get out was a weak. "OK."

Jade then grabbed the strainer. "Good. Let's eat. I'm hungry."

I stood there for a minute while Jade began to strain the noodles. Finally recovering, I said. "Are you ok?"

Pausing for a moment, Jade looked at me and shrugged. "Maybe, someday, I dunno." Her expression then shifted to a more pensive one. "Let me ask you this. Are we…..Ok?"

Without even hesitating, I nodded. "Yeah."

Her expression didn't really change but I could see a sparkle in her eye. "That's all that matters then."

"You never told anyone about your dog, what really happened to it?"

Having finished straining the noodles, Jade pulled some plates out of the cupboard and said in a blunt tone of voice. "No."

Jade had me take over the dishing of the pasta, while she opened the fridge and pulled out a bottle of Red wine. A few minutes later we were both seated at the table, much closer to each other, and eating our wonderful dinner. Outside the storm was raging pretty good with wind, thunder and lighting, making for some good entertainment.

I avoided talk of Jade's mother or her dog, it was obviously something she didn't like to dwell on. I understood what happened and I did believe her story. In fact we didn't talk much really at all. I did try. However I concluded, that since Jade had totally melted down earlier she was still a bit frazzled from her experience. She needed some time to come down as it were, so I kept quiet.

But unlike this morning, a lot of the discomfort between us was gone. I was enjoying her company and watching the storm. I was now well aware of the storm that raged inside of her. I would occasionally flash a smile at her and each time, she would smile back, if only for an instant.

It was only as we were cleaning up from dinner, did Jade open back up again.

"So, how did those shoes work out for Trina." Said Jade with a slight smirk.

"She's furious, they fell apart in the middle of a date. She was pretty humiliated."

"So, as I predicted, you didn't tell her that they were very cheap knockoffs."

I flushed with embarrassment. "She sold me out, so I didn't tell her. You were right."

"You thought it was funny too, didn't you Vega."

"Yes" I said begrudgingly.

Jade chuckled and we finished cleaning up. Going anywhere was out of the question, with the storm outside, so we elected to watch some movies on the TV. There was a small selection of dvd's near the tv and I let Jade pick.

"How about the original 1980 Friday the 13th?"

"What? No scissoring?"

"I forgot it." Grumbled Jade, as she put the dvd in the player.

I wasn't too thrilled to watch it, but this one wasn't too bad and it would Make Jade happy. We sat on the couch, next to each other, but not touching at first.

By the first kill, I was holding on to her, much to Jade's amusement. It would have kept going like that, had not exactly 31 minutes into the movie, the power went out.

Seemingly angered by the interruption, Jade Instantly stood up, oblivious to the fact that she had inadvertently knocked me to the floor; on my ass no less. "Fuck!, I didn't get to see Kevin Bacon die! That's the best death of all!"

"I'm fine thank you." I retorted cynically from the floor.

Just as Jade turned a flash of lightning, illuminated her surprised expression. She then quickly helped me off the floor and onto the couch.

"I'm sorry Tori, I didn't mean it." She said, sounding unusually worried. "Please believe me, we've made so much progress, I don't want you to think I did this on purpose."

It was my chuckle which caught her off guard.

"What?" Sputtered Jade, no looking upset and confused.

"I believe you Jade. You really love your horror films and I get it."

"But why did you laugh?"

"Once upon a time, you'd burst out laughing seeing me rubbing my rear on the floor. Instead you're downright concerned about my well-being. I think I just might have gotten to you."

In the darkness, I couldn't totally see her expression, but it appeared to be a scowl. "Are you mocking me?"

I shrugged. "Ok, a bit, but mostly, I'm happy."

"About what, exactly?"

"That I know, once and for all, I finally did get to you. That….."

I would have kept talking but Jade shut me up with a rather tender and long kiss.

"You talk too much. You know that Vega. Nice to know I finally got it through your thick skull, I actually like you."

"Ahh….what would be a heartfelt talk with Jade without at least one insult. I knew there had to be one coming sooner or later. You didn't make it easy, Miss I hate Tori."

"I never said that."

"Yes you did! All the time. Like the time you shouted it in the middle of my…."

Once again, I found myself being cut off by another very long kiss.

"That's rude….You know Jade, someday, you'll let me finish a sentence."

"Yeah…Yeah….Ok, I get it, I was a bitch….but in my defense for cutting you off, you kissed right back."

"Was a bitch? Sounds like your talking in the past tense." I then put my finger to my chin and appeared to think. Of course, the effect was rather muted as the only light was from occasional flashes of lightening. "That doesn't sound quite right."

"Are you calling me a bitch!" Retorted Jade in a angry tone of that sounded surprisingly, real.

Though it sounded real, I knew it was not, so in the terms of golf, I decided to play on through, "Yes, You're a bitch. the bitchetidest bitch of all bitches."

Jade immediately snorted. "bitchetidest isn't even a word. You're a total numbskull. The queen of all numbskulls. You're so stupid, you….."

This time I kissed, her quickly pinning her to the couch at the same time. She put up a bit of a struggle, but quickly acquiesced.

After another minute of very fun lip locking, I stopped and said. "Bitch!"

"Numbskull!"

Not sure if that would have continued, but a loud bang of thunder, which must have been extremely close, startled us, resulting in both of us grabbing each other and screaming.

We burst out laughing afterword.

"Now what?" I said as the laughter subsided.

Once the moment was done, Jade got up and disappeared into the darkness.. "As much as I love the dark, how about I light some candles . This happened before and my uncle has a box in the kitchen closet with candles and a battery operated radio. How about a game?"

Deciding to be cute, I said. "Sounds fun, could it be the one where I tie you to the bed and…"

"You know what I mean! A board game. Owwww! God damit!"

"What? Are you ok?"

"I just walked into the corner of the kitchen counter. Stupid counter!"

Jade did manage to retrieved the box from the closet, not before tripping over a chair, resulting in yet an even longer stream of obscenities.

"You sound so cute when you rage in pain, you know that Jade."

"Very funny!" Replied Jade, from the darkness, her words dripping in sarcasm.

A few minutes later, Jade had several candles lit and the radio going. Sadly, one of the few stations we could get up in the mountains was a 70's easy listening station. But it wasn't too bad.

Jade then grabbed some games off the shelf and walked back over.

"What are we playing? Monopoly?"

Jade tossed two board games on the table. "That's game's stupid."

Looking down I could see she had grabbed, a very old copy of the game. "Mystery date" and a newer version of the game, "Mall Madness."

"Ok, Interesting choices. I would guess, you would think these are both vapid and somewhat sexist. One a game where you're supposed to get date with a really cute guy and another one centered around shopping."

"Who cares, they're more fun than buying property. And I am so going to kick your ass in Mystery date, the captain of the football team is mine!"

Accepting the challenge, I grabbed the game and began to open it. "Your ass it will"

So for the next couple hours we, drank wine, talked, and played somewhat sexist board games. Jade did kick my ass in Mystery date. But I cleaned her clock in Mall Madness, All the while, we sang along to cheesy 70's radio, at least when they weren't talking about the storm. We also did a bit of kissing.

I could say I had a great time but that doesn't quite cover it. The whole evening seemed magical and judging by the gleam in Jade's eyes and the smile that never quite left her face, she felt the same way.

We were singing along to the aptly titled, "The Night the lights went out in Georgia" By Vicki Lawrence, when I noticed Jade starting to look a bit weary for a moment. She looked fine a second later kept on singing to the next song, "Rose Garden" By Lynn Anderson. Watching her I realized she was probably a lot more tired than she let on.

"Tired?" I asked, as the song ended.

"I'm fine."

"Come on. You don't have to act for me. Not after all this."

Jade sat down allowing herself to look tired and nodded in reply. "Yeah. I was up pretty late last night worrying, the nap helped a bit I'm worn out. I don't want this to end, I really don't, but I just can't go on. Sorry."

"Don't apologize. We had a great time, I think the storm is finally starting to let up and now is a good a time as ever to turn in."

So we cleaned up and got ready for bed. Once that was done, I said good night to Jade, gave her a nice kiss retired to my room.

By now, the storm was winding down, with the thunder getting ever more distant. So I just lay in bed, listening to the rain softly pelt the roof while I thought of the day's events.

I was nearing sleep, when I heard Jade's voice in the darkness, coming from the doorway. Her voice sounded tired and vulnerable. It was a tone of voice, I'll bet she rarely let anyone hear come from her.

"Tori?"

"Jade? What do you need?" I said as I could feel my heart flutter.

"Thank you for trusting me. I know it's not easy. Kidding aside, I am a bitch a lot of the time. Not many people would give me more than one chance. You put up with my shit."

"I screwed up too, besides, nothing worthwhile is easy or something like that."

"Can I ask you something Tori?"

"What?"

"You held me earlier while I slept, never before did I feel more special. I told you that. But I feel like I can talk to you, about anything and that means a lot. I know we just patched things up, but could I sleep with you. Just snuggle and sleep."

She paused for a moment and in a shaky voice, said. "I just want to be near you. You're the only one that understands me. You don't have to say yes. I won't be angry."

I'm not sure if I ever felt so more touched in my life. My answer came in an instant as I pulled aside the covers.

"Jade, we can be anything we want. Snuggle buddies it is. Come on."

I couldn't see her or her expression but she quickly slipped under the covers and pressed herself up against me, putting one arm across my midsection. A second later she pulled me closer.

For a few moments, we lay there, again it felt like magic and I knew there was no other place I wanted to be at that moment. I felt warm, safe and much like Jade, very special. It felt more than right.

Breaking the silence, Jade whispered in a half sleepy voice. "You're beautiful Tori, I mean it. I love your hair, your eyes, and your smile. I hope we can be good together. I really do."

Grinning in the dark, I whispered back. "I think you're beautiful too. I think we will."

Jade hummed for a moment, sounding very happy started to quietly sing that song we were just listening too on the radio. I guessed she liked the grim subject matter, regardless, I quickly I joined her.

 _"That's the night that the lights went out in Georgia.  
That's the night that they hung an innocent man.  
Well, don't trust your soul to no backwoods Southern lawyer  
'Cause the judge in the town's got blood stains on his hands."_

By the time we finished, Jade had fallen fast asleep. For a time, I lay there, not listening to the rain anymore, but Jade's soft rhythmic breathing as I had earlier this afternoon. This time, I was struck how oddly soothing it was and in time, it gently put me to sleep.

 **The song, "The nights the lights went out in Georgia" was a 1972 #1 song for Vicki Lawrence. Lyrics used without permission.**

 **Almost done with the story. I hoped you like the chapter.**


	26. Right Step, Wrong Step, Which Step

**Disclaimer: The show Victorious, its characters and other associated copyrights are property of someone else and not me.**

 **Unfairly Judged.**

 **Chapter 26 – Right step, wrong step, which step?**

 **Tori's POV.**

Waking up the next morning, was both wonderful and strange. Though I must admit that the very first thought upon waking, was happily realizing that this wasn't all just some scheme of Jade's to get me into bed, so she could stab me to death in my sleep, with her sharpest pair of scissors.

Some thought huh…. Yay, I didn't wake up with a pair of scissors in my chest, so Jade must really like me. It wasn't really a serious thought or something I actually dwelt on, more just a thing that briefly flitted across my mind.

Perhaps I was subconsciously thinking about all that we've been through, me thinking she was kidding when she first asked me out and all the starts and stops since. We did make a major breakthrough yesterday, but I'm sure this issue will remain on our minds for some time. Either way, I could help but feel a bit guilty for wondering that, if even for a second.

I had no idea what time it was, only that I could see light coming in through the curtains. The radio alarm clock next to the bed flashed a rather unhelpful 12:00 over and over. At least the power was back on, that was good.

Turning back over, I could see Jade sleeping next to me. She was on her side, an arm lazily draped across my midsection, quietly snoring away. Even like this, asleep, no makeup and her hair all messy, she was devastatingly beautiful. Part of me, didn't want to look away…ever.

Best of all, she's here with me, she wants to be with me. I was so touched last night, when she came in and asked to sleep with me. She said I made her feel special. It must have been so hard for her to gather the courage to come in and ask. I could feel my heart fluttering just pondering what it meant and what it could mean.

Wonderful thoughts aside, I had to use the bathroom, so I slowly got out of bed and quietly made myself to the door. Pausing briefly, I looked back to see she was still fast asleep.

"You make me feel special too." I whisper.

After using the bathroom, I gazed out the window to see that it was no longer raining. In fact the clouds were starting to break up and it was looking to be a beautiful day. So I made myself some coffee and stepped onto the patio.

Jade had put away all the furniture before the storm, so the patio was empty, save for a decent sized tree branch sitting in the middle of it. In fact there were small branches and leaves scattered all over the yard from the storm. A little ways a way, near a neighboring cabin, I could see a tree that looked like it had taken a direct hit by lightning and was split down the middle.

Turning my attention to the fabulous view of the valley, I took a sip of my coffee and just enjoyed it. For several minutes I just stood there and sipped coffee. After the storm, it was so clam and quiet. All I could hear is the faint breeze and a few birds.

All of sudden I felt a presence behind me. Before I could turn, I felt Jade wrap her arms around me from behind. She quickly pulled me in close and rested her head on my shoulder.

I half expected her to say something, a glib remark or something like that. But she said nothing. She just continued to hold me.

Content to be held by Jade, I remained quiet as well. After about a minute she kissed my neck, slowly and tenderly, still not saying a word.

Soon, not only was I content, but getting mighty tingly.

She stopped after a brief time, and then rested her head on my shoulder again. Nothing was said, but at that moment, nothing needed to be said. The moment felt perfect.

A few seconds later she whispered, "Thank you."

Turning around I smiled and gave her a quick kiss. "You're very welcome. Did you sleep well?"

"Yes. I did."

"I guess I should thank you. I can't imagine how hard it was to open up to me yesterday. About your mother, your dog and lastly just allowing yourself to be vulnerable with me."

Responding with a smile, Jade replied. "I'll admit I was afraid that you'd say no….letting me sleep with you. "

"You're welcome." Letting a bit of guilt into my expression, I continued. "I'll admit that at least once I half wondered if this were all just some sort of plot…."

With a smirk, Jade finished my sentence. "to get you into bed, so I could kill you with my scissors in your sleep."

Suddenly feeling like a shit, my face fell.

Jade however pulled me in tight and kissed me.

"Vega, Stop that! If that didn't cross your mind at least once, I'd think I was doing something wrong. I have a reputation to keep you know. Besides, I was worried you'd say no to me sleeping with you. Neither of us are perfect. "

She then put her arm around me and led me back to the cabin. "It's not even 8:30 yet. Much too early to be up."

"Am I being ordered back to bed?" I said with a curious, but playful expression."

This time it was Jades' face that fell, as she stopped dead in her tracks. "I didn't mean it….er I mean you don't have to go back to.…." She stammered quickly.

A grin forming on my face, I began to move her in the cabin. "You're right…I don't have to….but I want to…."

Wordlessly I lead Jade back into the bedroom, where we climbed into bed. Once under the covers the last bit of Jade's nervousness faded away as she wrapped her arms around me and closed her eyes.

I fell asleep quickly, but before I did all I could think about his how special this made me feel. Special….such a wonderful word.

Waking up some time later, I could feel Jade slowly caressing my hair. As soon as I opened my eyes, she hastily stopped.

"It's ok….I like your hair too. So beautiful and soft. Though to be honest, I liked it more when your hair was brown."

"So my black hair is ugly to you!" Retorted Jade as she sat up in bed. "Perhaps I should shave myself bald…would that make queen Tori happy?"

Propping myself up on the pillow, I raised my chin in a haughty manner. "That's Empress Tori to you…and yes…that way I could buy you lots of wigs and play dress up, depending on my mood."

"So my hair is ugly and I'm just a doll for you to play with, not even a real person."

By this time, could barely suppress my laughter as the conversation became increasingly absurd. "You're real alright…. a real bitch…but one with two redeeming qualities….you're gay….and ultra-cute."

"YOU TAKE THAT BACK VEGA! RIGHT NOW!" Roared Jade, looking so angry that a vein momentarily bulged in her forehead.

For a second, I was actually frightened, but realized she was acting. "Um…Jade if you're not gay, then really barking up the wrong tree….because I'll let you in on a little secret…I'm gay. "

"NO…you said I was ultra-cute…..I am not ultra-cute….do I look like a dress…no..I am Jade I am sensuous and sexy…I am not ultra-cute. Now you're just being insulting."

With a puzzled look, I scratched my head. "So you're not cute or gay….boy, am I ever in the wrong bed….I wonder what Cat…"

Almost instantly Jade began to growl, causing me to stop in mid-sentence. So I just glared at her with mock annoyance.

After a moment, Jade huffed. "Ok, I'm gay. I'm gayer than you, in fact."

"I didn't realize this was a competition. But somehow that doesn't surprise me. So…you're gay..which is good, since I'm gay…but here's the problem. If we want to be gay together….you have to let me think you're ultra-cute."

"Ok, but no posting that on the slap."

"God Jade, you're easy."

"Bitch!"

"Wait, I thought you were the bitch! Now, I 'm just confused."

With a smirk, she grabbed me and pulled me in close. "Ok numbskull, maybe this will help clear things up."

I barely had time to react, before she pressed her lips to mine. But it was more than that. At the same moment her arms tightened around me, as she was claiming me for her own. There are lots of kinds of kisses, but this one was no mere peck on the cheek or even a soft one. This was a kiss full of passion.

Feeling like my whole body was starting to tingle, I fell right into it, kissing back. Time seemed to stop as we lost ourselves in the moment.

But as soon as it started and just as I opened my mouth, Jade stopped, pulled back and smiled.

"Any questions Vega?"

"Nope!" I said with a grin. "I'm gay, your gay….we're both gay and you are damn fucking cute."

As she returned the smile, Jade blushed slightly. "I'll take that over ultra-cute."

Moving out of the bed, Jade picked up her phone which she must have placed on the nightstand at some point.

"It's just after 11. I think it's time to get up and I'm getting hungry. Why don't you take a shower first. That way you'll be sure to have enough hot water. "

With a nod, I climbed out of bed, grabbed my bathrobe, my bathroom stuff and followed Jade into the hallway. She moved towards the living room and I for the bathroom.

As I reached the doorway, I looked to Jade who happened to glance back at the same time. She was cute, more than cute and at that moment there was a part of me, that wanted to invite her to shower with me. I guess I was still buzzing from that kiss and wanted to know what else she could make me feel.

"You need something Vega?"

"Huh?" I said, abruptly brought back to reality.

"You looked like you wanted something."

For an instant, I pondered really asking her. Giving her a sly smile and making some cute remark about sharing the hot water. However, just then, I found myself reflecting on how that we've come a long way in the last day or so, perhaps I shouldn't press my luck. Or more specifically press, OUR luck by rushing into things.

Too many mistakes have been made already, I mused quietly.

With an awkward smile, I shook my head, walked into the bathroom and closed the door behind me

About a half an hour later, I emerged from the bathroom, having done my normal routine. However as I moved to the bedroom, I could hear Jade talking to someone. Curious, I walked into the living room. Jade was standing near the kitchen, talking on her phone. Her side was to me but even then I could see a pained expression on her face.

At the moment Jade was listening to someone. Getting closer, I strained my ears to listen as the person on the other end was speaking loudly, no actually they were yelling.

I had heard that voice only once, but I knew it right away, it was Jade's mother.

"Jade" came the screeching voice from the other end. "I can't believe for a single second that you would even consider seeing that vile, Tori Vega. If that cabin was mine, instead of your fathers, I'd drive up there right now and yank you right out of there."

It was clear that Jade's mom was reaming her a new one for the horrible sin of seeing me. The tirade from the other end continued, but I then focused on Jade herself. A few times she opened her mouth to speak, but seemed to be unable to. As I studied her expression, I realized it was an almost classic, deer in the headlights look.

By this time Jade's mother had gone on to lecture her on dating at least a better class of women.

She wasn't speaking back to her mother or defending me because she simply couldn't do it. How could she be so mean to Jade, almost instantly my blood began to boil.

I quickly reached for the phone, to yank it out of Jade's hands so I could give Jade's mom a real chewing out, but stopped. I could do that, but that wouldn't help Jade or the situation between her and her mother.

Thinking for a moment, I walked up behind Jade, wrapped my arms around her and whispered in her other ear.

"Defend yourself. You can do it. You're strong, smart and beautiful. You can do it."

Jade stiffened for a moment as her mom continued to drone on. I could only pray that this would work.

"MOTHER!" Jade said in a loud but very shaky voice.

"What?" Came the harsh reply.

"You….you…were mean to Tori…very mean….you embarrassed me and nearly ruined things between us."

Jade was doing it, I was so happy. Her voice and her body was shaking but she was defending herself and me.

For the first time, Jade's mom, didn't have anything coherent to say. All she managed to do was sputter something about me being low class.

"Tori is not low class. She's pretty, smart and special. You can either except that or not, but nothing will change the fact that I want to date her and…"

By then her voice seemed a bit less shaky and some confidence started to creep in.

"I want her to be happy, I want me to be happy and maybe, just maybe we can be happy together. If we're lucky. I am dating Tori Vega and that is final and you will not wreck this."

This time, all I heard from the other end was a surprised gasp, followed by a rather subdued reply.

"Well…um ok then….I'll speak with you later….."

I let go of Jade who was looking at the phone in her hand almost blankly. The screen had indicated the call had ended but Jade just kept starring at it.

After few moments she walked to the table and placed the phone on it. Only then did I notice her hands where shaking, that was in addition, that she looked visibly shaken.

As she leaned against a chair, seemingly for support, I placed a hand on her shoulder. "You did it, I'm so proud of you."

Much to my surprise, Jade seemed to recoil and back away from me, almost instantly.

"Please, don't touch me."

Confused and a bit hurt by the reaction, I took 3 steps back. "I'm sorry. I just wanted to help you.'

She turned away for a moment, but when she looked back, I could see tears welling up in her eyes.

"Tori, I'm sorry, but I need to be alone for a while. Just help yourself to anything in the kitchen, make yourself some lunch. I'll be in my room for a while."

What happened? To be honest, I was dumfounded. I thought she'd be happy or maybe relieved. She finally stands up to her mother and then promptly comes apart and doesn't want to be near me. The more I thought about it, the more it kind of hurt.

"I'm so sorry Jade. Please forgive me."

Both starting to cray and at the same time, looking suddenly angry, she walked up and grabbed my chin. "Don't you ever apologize for doing that! You were absolutely fucking wonderful and you just keep on being fucking wonderful."

Looking into her eyes, I could see she absolutely meant it. I think her emotions were even more out there and more raw than yesterday.

"It really fucking hurt when you stood me up, Tori. Really fucking hurt. I know now you didn't want to. You care for me, you really do. Just now you showed me that you care, even more than letting me sleep with you. I'm an utter bitch and you care, but….I'm sorry, but all this…I need to be alone..I need to process this for a while."

Before I could respond, she ran out of the room and a second later I could hear the door to her room slam shut.

Stunned, I sat on the couch and took a deep breath. Just then, did I realize just how fragile Jade actually was. More than I even thought yesterday. I think that, while I had given her strength to stand up to her mother, it left her so completely drained, that she didn't even have the strength to hide her emotions, from me or herself. I guess it was too much for her, not just all that happened the last couple of days, but for a long time.

Of course, what did I do, apologize. I misread her, forcing her to just spill herself to me.

It's a lot to think about, a lot to ponder. What I do know, is that earlier, my decision to play it safe and not invite her to shower with me was the right one. She's not ready and I don't think I am either.

But for now I left with only my thoughts and the comfort that I'd done the right thing. All I can do now is wait…

 **Authors note: My apologies for being always so long. For one, I just couldn't think of anything. The well totally ran dry. Plus I was dealing with a serious illness in my family. Things are getting better on that front. So I just took some time off, where I neither read nor wrote any fanfiction.**

 **I do appreciate the notes of concern I got from a couple of you. Plus I do apologize for not responding, I was taking a total break and I think I kind of needed it. I hope everyone is doing well.**

 **But I've been wanting to get back into it recently and started writing. Though I admit, to starting to write this chapter at least 3 times. Each time, I didn't like what I wrote, so I deleted it, waited a bit and restarted. But this week I got it, a chapter that I'm actually happy with. Not sure what pace of writing I will keep up, but I want to keep going.**

 **So what do you think of my return chapter? I wanted to show that Jade is a lot more emotionally fragile that even Tori suspected.**


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